Eddie Mathews

Edwin Lee Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American professional baseball third baseman.

Mathews was signed by the Boston Braves in 1949.

He played 63 games that year for the Class D High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms, where he hit 17 home runs and earned a .363 batting average.

The next year he hit 32 home runs for the Class AA Atlanta Crackers.

After splitting 1951 between the Crackers and Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers, Mathews made the Braves' major league roster out of spring training in 1952.

He hit 25 home runs, including three in one game versus Brooklyn on September 27.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 17 seasons for the Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966); Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967–68).

He won the National League (NL) home run title in 1953 and 1959 and was the NL Most Valuable Player runner-up both of those seasons.

He hit 512 home runs during his major league career.

In 1953, the Braves moved to Milwaukee where he batted .302 and posted career highs of 47 home runs and 135 RBIs.

For nine straight seasons he hit at least 30 home runs, including leading the National League twice (1953, 1959).

As one of 1954's superstars in American sports, Mathews was chosen for the cover of the first-ever issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.

Around this time, Ty Cobb said of Mathews: "I've only known three or four perfect swings in my time. This lad has one of them."

Mathews was a powerful pull hitter, and for many years of his career teams would implement the "Mathews shift" when he came to bat.

The second baseman would shift well to his left, toward first base, and the shortstop would come to the second base side of the bag, leaving a gaping hole between second and third base.

Mathews delighted in occasionally punching the ball through that hole.

Between 1954 and 1966, he and Braves teammate Hank Aaron hit 863 home runs (Aaron 442, Mathews 421), moving ahead of the Yankees duo of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig as the all-time leaders in major league history.

The Braves won the 1957 National League championship.

In the World Series, Mathews hit a game-winning home run in the tenth inning of game four.

The Braves went on to defeat the New York Yankees to win the Series.

Mathews made the final putout of the Series, a forceout of Gil McDougald on Moose Skowron's hard-hit grounder.

Mathews was regarded as one of the strongest power hitters of his time, often being compared to American League contemporary Mickey Mantle, in terms of power hitting strength.

Hall of Fame teammate Warren Spahn once said of the two: "Mathews is just as strong as Mantle. They don't hit the same – Mantle gets all of his weight into his swing; Mathews uses his wrists more."

Spahn's comment on Mathews' use of his wrists was in reference to his unique swing, as believed by many to be one of the more graceful swings in baseball history.

Pitcher Sal Maglie noticed, however, that Mathews had a tendency to chase "the low curve on the three-and-two pitch."

Mathews is the only player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta.

By the Braves' first season in Atlanta, Matthews was the last Boston Brave still on an active roster.

Mathews is also one of just two players to homer with a teammate in the same game at least 50 times with two different teammates.

He did this with Henry Aaron 75 times and with Joe Adcock 56 times.

Willie Mays is the other, with Willie McCovey (68) and Orlando Cepeda (50), to do it.

The Braves traded Mathews, Arnold Umbach, and a player to be named later to the Houston Astros for Dave Nicholson and Bob Bruce after the 1966 season.

Mathews coached for the Atlanta Braves in 1971, and he was the team's manager from 1972 to 1974.

Later, he was a scout and coach for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Oakland Athletics.

Mathews was born in Texarkana, Texas.

He was six years old when his family moved to Santa Barbara, California.

The Santa Barbara High School baseball field, where he developed into a star high school baseball player, is named after him.

Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978, he is the only player to have represented the Braves in the three cities they have called home.

He played 1,944 games for the Braves during their 13-season tenure in Milwaukee—the prime of Mathews' career.

Mathews is regarded as one of the best third basemen ever to play the game.

He was an All-Star for nine seasons.