Born Edwin Lee Mathews on October 13, 1931 in
Texarkana,
Texas, this sweet-swinging left-hander was the only man to play for the
Boston,
Milwaukee, and
Atlanta Braves. Mathews played 17 years in the big leagues, and combined with
Hank Aaron to form the most prolific slugging duo in the history of
baseball.
With a slight 6'1", 190 pound frame, Mathews quickly became a feared power hitter, slamming 25 home runs in his rookie year. Mathews hit 30 or more homers a year for nine consecutive seasons, second only to Jimmie Foxx. His 47 home runs in 1953 was a record for third basemen (since broken by Mike Schmidt). Matthews became the seventh player in history to hit 500 home runs, hitting the mark on July 14, 1967 off of Juan Marichal. He finished his career with 512 home runs.
Mathews was a central figure in the Milwaukee Braves only World Series championship in 1957. His home run in the bottom of the tenth inning gave the Braves a victory in Game 4 of the World Series against the Yankees. All told, he played in three World Series and ten All-Star games. He was also featured on Sports Illustrated's first cover.
Matthews finished his career with the Astros and Tigers before managing the Braves for 2½ seasons. He was elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1978 with more than 79% of the vote. He died in La Jolla, California on February 18, 2001, of complications from pneumonia.
Eddie Mathews - Career Stats
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB K .AVG .OBP .SLG
2391 8537 1509 2315 354 72 512 1453 68 1444 1487 .271 .376 .509