Eddie Mathews

Career Batting Stats G AB H R HR RBI SB AVG SLG OBP OPS OPS+ 2391 8537 2315 1509 512 1453 68 .271 .509 .376 .885 126.2

Teams Eddie Mathews Managed

Where does Eddie Mathews rank among baseball greats?

Best Season: 1953
In just his second season, the muscular Mathews powered 47 balls out of the ballpark - leading the NL for the first time. He drove in 135 runners, scored 110 times, and played in every game. His SLG was .627 and he had a .406 OBP (the first of six times he topped .400). He batted .302 on the strength of 175 hits. Aaron had yet to come to the Braves, so Mathews was truly the power player for Milwaukee in '53.

Factoids
Eddie Mathews may have been the first athlete stricken by the "Sports Illustrated Curse." After appearing on the magazine's first cover, the slugger injured his hand and missed seven games.

Full Bio
Born in Texarkana, Texas, on October 13, 1931, just a few weeks after the St. Louis Cardinals had defeated the Philadelphia A’s in the World Series. A week later Mickey Mantle was born, and just a few weeks before, Ernie Banks and Willie Mays had entered the world.

Mathews family was not poor, his father (Eddie Sr.) worked for Western Union, and Eddie had ample time to hone his athletic skills. When he was six years old the family moved to Santa Barbara, California. As Eddie grew, his father threw him pitch after pitch and taught him his sweet swing. When Mathews reached his teenage years he starred in both baseball and football. He was a tough fullback on the gridiron. But baseball was his passion, and it flowed through his veins as well – his grandfather “Bird” had been a fine hitter in the Texas League.

As his senior year progressed, scouts from nearly every major league team went to see him play. Eddie and his father decided to choose his team very carefully. After studying the major league rosters they decided Eddie would sign with the Boston Braves, because the team had the oldest third baseman (Bob Elliott) – the position Mathews lived to play.

On the evening of his high school graduation, Mathews signed his big-league contract with the Braves, while he was wearing his tuxedo for the dance. Since rules were strict about signing a player prior to his graduation, the parties had to wait until midnight for Eddie to put pen to paper. Johnny Moore, the former outfielder, went to Mathews graduation dance and hauled the youngster out so he could officially become a major leaguer.

Mathews first pro experience came in North Carolina, with the Braves farm club in High Point-Thomasville. He quickly established himself as the best prospect in baseball, slugging 17 homers in 63 games, and batting .363 with 56 RBI. Just 18 years old, he was promoted to Atlanta the next season and tore up the Sally League, batting .286 with 32 homers, 103 runs, and 106 RBI in 146 games. The Crackers won the pennant behind Eddie’s slugging.

After that 1950 season with the Crackers, Mathews signed with a new team – the U.S. Navy. He was committed to four years, just as the Korean War broke out. But after a few months as a sailor, Mathews was discharged after his father fell ill. He was the sole supporter of his family. Soon, Mathews was back in his baseball uniform, playing with three minor league teams in 1951. His efforts earned him an invite to the Braves 1952 spring training.

In the spring of ’52 Eddie won the third base job – supplanting Elliott, just as he and his father had planned. In his rookie season he blasted 25 homers in 145 games and was solid defensively at the hot corner. His 25 homers that first season in Boston (the last year for the Braves in Beantown) were the first of many, many more.

When he arrived in the major leagues in 1952, Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella said “He could wait on a pitch as well as anybody. He hit balls that, I swear, were almost in my glove.” It wasn’t long before the entire league was talking about Mathews' beautiful swing from the left side of the plate. Replacing Braves fan favorite Bob Elliott at third base, Mathews hit 25 homers his rookie season, the first of 14 straight in which he would top twenty. On the last Saturday of the season, he hit three homers against the Dodgers in Ebbets Field, setting an NL rookie record. He collected the last hit by a Boston Brave – an RBI double that tied the score on the final day of the 1952 campaign.

Mathews and the Braves frantically moved to Milwaukee in 1953. That year he led the NL with 47 homers, driving in 135 – both marks breaking Wally Berger’s franchise records. He had a tremendous second-half, blasting 27 homers after the All-Star break. He followed with two more 40-homer seasons in 1954 and 1955. Mathews was the cleanup man for the Braves, driving in 100 or more runs five times in his career. When Hank Aaron joined Milwaukee in 1954, the two sluggers quickly formed one of the best right-left punches in baseball history.

From 1954 to 1966, Mathews and Aaron led the Braves attack. During those 13 seasons they ranked #2 (Aaron) and #4 (Mathews) in baseball in games played. They were first and third in hits (Aaron leading), second and fourth (Mathews) in runs and runs created, first and third (Mathews) in RBI, and their combined 863 homers were the most by teammates ever. Aaron clubbed 442, Mathews 421, good for second and and fourth in baseball over that stretch. Perhaps no team in history has had two such great sluggers over that long of a period. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig teamed for ten seasons, while Willie Mays and Willie McCovey were paired for 13 ˝ seasons, but didn't enjoy the same success, relative to their league, as Aaron and Eddie.

By the mid-1950s the Milwaukee Braves were challenging the Brooklyn Dodgers for National League dominance. In 1953 and 1955 the Braves finished a distant second. They lost the pennant by a single game in 1956, but finally won in 1957. That Fall they beat the New York Yankees in seven games in the World Series, Mathews winning Game Four with a home run in the tenth inning (using Aaron’s bat). In the finale, Mathews saved a run with a fine defensive play to end the game and the Series. In 1958, the Braves again won the pennant, but this time the Yanks took a seven-game Series, rallying from a 3-1 deficit. In 1959 the Braves finished in a first place tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but lost the pennant in a three-game playoff. They would finish second in 1960 (the seventh time in eight years they were second or first), and then their reign was over.

From 1960 to 1965, Mathews continued to excel, despite the team’s struggles. He averaged 29 homers and 104 RBI over that stretch. Soon the Braves were tiring of the Midwest, failing under sagging attendance. The team moved to Atlanta for the 1966 season, but never returned to their glory while Mathews was in the lineup. He was traded to the Astros in 1967, and then to Detroit later in the season. In 1968 he served as a pinch-hitter for the Tigers, belting three pinch-homers. He went 1-for-3 in Detroit's World Series win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mathews retired on that winning note, with 512 career home runs – two more than Aaron to that point and second all-time in the National League. He ranked sixth all-time in homers, and was first among NL left-handed batters. Mathews managed the Braves in 1973 and 1974, and was in the dugout the night Aaron hit #715. His record in less than two seasons as manager was 126-134 (.485). In 1978, Mathews was elected to the Hall of Fame. For some reason it had taken four ballots to get the slugger into Cooperstown.

Unlike Aaron, who was known for his line-drive homers, Mathews was famous for tape-measure blasts. His homers flew high and deep. Men who had seen Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, and Ralph Kiner blast the longball, ranked Mathews right up there for distance.

Where He Played
Mathews played 2,181 games at the hot corner, 112 at first base, and 52 in the outfield, most of them in 1963, when the Braves wanted to get Denis Menke some playing time at third base!

Born
Edwin Lee (Jr.) Mathews was born on October 13, 1931, in Texarkana, TX.

Died
February 18, 2001, La Jolla, CA

Batted:  Left
Threw:  Right

Major League Debut
4 15,

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1952
Eddie Mathews
Dick Groat
Harvey Kuenn
Johnny Temple
Jim Rivera
Hoyt Wilhelm
Ron Kline
Stu Miller
Dusty Rhodes

Uniform Numbers
#41 (1952-1966), #11 (1967 Astros), #7 (1967-1968 Tigers)

Similar Players
Mike Schmidt, which shows you how good Mathews really was.

Related Players
Hank Aaron, Bob Elliott

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1974 BBWAA 118 32.3% 1975 BBWAA 148 40.9% 1976 BBWAA 189 48.7% 1977 BBWAA 239 62.4% 1978 BBWAA 301 79.4%

Post-Season Appearances
1957 World Series
1958 World Series
1968 World Series

Milestones

• August 1, 1954: 100th HR...


• June 12, 1957: 200th HR...


• April 17, 1960: 300th HR...


• April 16, 1963: 400th HR...


• July 14, 1967: 500th HR... Hit his milestone homer off future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal.

Notes
Mathews was runner-up in both the 1953 and 1959 MVP voting. In '53, Roy Campanella beat him out, and in '59 it was Ernie Banks.

Hitting Streaks
15 games (1961)

Transactions
Signed as an amateur free agent by Boston Braves (1949); Traded by Atlanta Braves with Arnold Umbach and a player to be named later to Houston Astros in exchange for Dave Nicholson and Bob Bruce (December 31, 1966) - Houston Astros received Sandy Alomar (February 25, 1967; Traded by Houston Astros to Detroit Tigers in exchange for a player to be named later (August 17, 1967) - Houston Astros received Fred Gladding (November 22, 1967); Released by Detroit Tigers (October 28, 1968).

All-Star Selections
1953 NL
1955 NL
1956 NL
1957 NL
1958 NL
1959 NL
1960 NL
1961 NL
1962 NL

Replaced
Braves third baseman Bob Elliott, who was traded to the New York Giants in April of 1952 for Sheldon Jones and cash, to make room for 20-year old Mathews.

Replaced By
Clete Boyer, who was acquired from the New York Yankees in the 1966 off-season.

Best Strength as a Player
Power

Largest Weakness as a Player
Speed

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