Home > Eddie Mathews

Eddie Mathews was six years old when his family moved to Santa Barbara, California where he developed into a star high school player. Signed by the Boston Braves in 1949, he continued to shine in their farm system as a left-handed power-hitting third baseman who hit towering home runs. Brought up to the major leagues, in his 1952 rookie season with the Braves, Eddie Mathews hit 25 home runs, including three in one game, breaking the record for rookies. In his second year the franchise moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he batted for a .302 season average, hit 47 home runs, and drove in 135 runs. For nine straight seasons he hit 30 home runs or more including leading the National League twice. As one of 1954's superstars in American sports, Eddie Mathews was chosen for the cover of the first ever issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.

His team won the 1957 National League championship then, helped by Mathews game-winning home run in the tenth inning of game four, they defeated the New York Yankees to win the World Series.

In 1967, Eddie Mathews became only the seventh player to hit 500 career home runsThe following is a chronology of the top ten leaders in lifetime home runs in Major League Baseball. This includes any home runs hit by a player in the National League ( 1876-present), the American Association ( 1882- 1891), the Union Association ( 1884),, and is a member of the 500 home run clubIn Major League Baseball, the 500 home run club is an informal term applied to the group of players who have hit 500 or more career home runs. As of 2004 only 20 players have accomplished this. In general, the 500th home run is not a surprise, as the play. Over his seventeen-year Major League career, he was named to the All-Star team nine times, hit 512 home runs, played in three World Series, and drove in 100 or more runs five times. As the one-two punch for the Milwaukee Braves, from 1954 to 1966 he and teammate Hank AaronHenry Louis "Hank" Aaron (born February 5, 1934), baseball player and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, is best known for setting the record for most home runs in a career (755), surpassing the previous mark of 714 by Babe Ruth. He was born in Mobile, hit 863 homers (Aaron 442, Mathews 421), moving ahead of the duo of Babe RuthGeorge Herman Ruth ( February 6, 1895 August 16, 1948), better known as Babe Ruth and also commonly known by the nicknames The Bambino and The Sultan of Swat was an American baseball player and United States national icon. He was one of the first five pla and Lou GehrigLudwig Heinrich Gehrig americanized Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig ( June 19, 1903 June 2, 1941) was a baseball player and member of the United States Baseball Hall of Fame. He was born on Manhattan island in New York, New York, the son of German immigrants. of the New York Yankees as the all-time leaders in Major League Baseball history.

The great Ty CobbTyrus Raymond Cobb ( December 18, 1886 in Narrows, Georgia July 17, 1961 in Atlanta, Georgia), usually known as Ty Cobb and nicknamed "The Georgia Peach", was an American baseball player considered to be the greatest player of the "Deadball Era" (1900-192 (1886-1961) once said of Mathews: "I've only known three or four perfect swings in my time. This lad has one of them."

In 1978 Eddie Mathews was elected to the Baseball Hall of FameNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum based in Cooperstown, New York, is a semi-official museum operated by private interests that serves as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in North America, the display of baseball-related a and today still ranks second all-time among third basemen in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage and total bases. He is the only man to play for the Braves team in all three cities they called home: Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Mathews retired as a player after the 1968 season but came back to manage the Atlanta Braves from 1972 to 1974.

Eddie Mathews passed away from complications of pneumonia on February 18, 2001 in La Jolla, CaliforniaLa Jolla California, is an upscale, coastal community within the city of San Diego. It is located on and north of Mount Soledad, extending toward Torrey Pines State Reserve. Its population is 44,440 as of January, 2003. La Jolla is noted by the high stand.