Braves Report

For many years, Eddie Mathews was considered, and actually is still considered by some, to be the best third-baseman ever. I chose to write about him today because on April 15, 1952, Eddie made his major league debut for the Boston Braves. He’s almost a forgotten man in Braves lore among fans, so let me tell you a story.

Born on October 13, 1931, Eddie Mathews was a left-handed slugging third baseman who played most of his career for the Braves. He was born in Texarkana, Texas, but at the age of 6, he moved to Santa Barbara, California. There, Mathews became a star high school player. In 1949, Mathews signed his contract with the Braves, and he began to immediately hit towering home runs. Because of his tendency to pull the ball, Mathews became one of the first players to have the shift put on when he came up to bat. Fittingly, the shift became the “Mathews Shift”. Today, this shift is used more often. However, Ty Cobb would later say that Mathews’ swing was one of the four best swings he ever saw.

As I said, Mathews began his career for the Boston Braves 56 years ago today. In his first season, he hit 25 home runs and became the first rookie to hit three in one game, but he only hit .242 in that first season. The very next season, the Braves moved to Milwaukee where Mathews gained instant stardom by hitting .302 with 47 HR and 135 RBI, a season he never matched again. Roy Campanella beat him out for the MVP award that season by hitting 10 points higher and almost as many home runs (41). Eddie would never win the MVP award, coming in second one more time. In 1957, Mathews and the Braves won the World Series, his first (the other in 1968 with the Tigers, but he was not an impact player at that point). Mathews’ second-finest season came two years later when he hit 46 HR with 114 RBI and a .306 BA, but he finished second behind Ernie Banks who matched him almost perfectly (.304, 45) in HR and BA, but he had 146 RBI to gain the crucial advantage.

Mathews played several more productive years in Atlanta until he was traded in 1967 to Houston then onto Detroit, where he would end his career. After 1963, Mathews’ never hit above .260 again, and he only played one more season with more than 141 games played. Over his career, he played in nine All-Star games, played in three World Series, and drove in 100 or more five times. When he retired in 1968, he was seventh on the all-time home run list with 512 for his career. After playing, he went on to coaching, and he managed the Braves from 1972 to 1974. In 1978, he was elected into the Hall of Fame. In 2001, after battling pneumonia, Mathews died in his home in La Jolla, California at the age of 69. That season, the Braves wore a commemorative 41 patch to honor the Hall of Fame third baseman.

Fun Facts:

- He and Hank Aaron have the most home runs all-time for teammates (863).

- Managed the game that Aaron hit his 715^th home run.

- Appeared on the first cover of Sports Illustrated on August 16^th, 1954.

- Only Brave to ever play for Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta.

- Hit his 500^th home run off Juan Marichal.