Matlack compiled 1,023 strikeouts and a 3.03 earned run average as one of the "Big Three" pitchers the New York Mets were built around in the 1970s, along with Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. Unfortunately, the Mets were also a light hitting team at the time, and his 82–81 record is not nearly indicative of how well he pitched for the club.\n', '

Matlack\'s best minor league season was 1968, when he went 13–6 with a 2.76 ERA for the Raleigh-Durham Mets of the Carolina League. During his fifth season in the Mets\' farm system, Matlack debuted with the Mets in the second game of a July 11, 1971 double header with the Cincinnati Reds. He pitched seven innings, and left the game with a 3–2 lead, however, Tug McGraw and Tom Seaver were unable to close the game. For the season, Matlack went 0–3 with a 4.14 ERA in seven appearances (six starts). His finest pitching performance was his last, when he gave up just one run in eight innings of work against the Pittsburgh Pirates.\n', '

Matlack made the team out of spring training 1972, and got off to a 6–0 start with a 1.95 ERA in the first two months of the season. He ended the season with a 15–10 record and 2.32 ERA to win the National League Rookie of the Year award. On September 30, he gave up Roberto Clemente\'s 3000th, and final, career hit.\n', '

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