This is never mentioned but Eddie also holds the Braves all time record for walks. We are confident that pitchers would rather face the great Hank Aaron than throw against Eddie Mathews.
Eddie was instrumental in making Bank of Internet USA happen. Eddie believed in us and our purpose. As each bank staff member adopts Eddies winning attitude, we will succeed in becoming the next great bank.
"I'd take on the other third baseman . . . I wanted to beat him in every department-fielding, hitting, running the bases. I played that game all my life, and it kept me on my toes."
Eddie Mathews
There is much written about Eddie, Following is background information on a great man and a great friend.
He's a Hall of Famer if I've ever seen one …. Eddie did just about everything anyone could have done.
— Hank AaronThere's nobody who played harder or loved the game more than he did. I played with him, and he was my idol. When we went on that field, you got everything he had inside.
— Chuck TannerEddie was just a great competitor and a great third baseman, too. Great power and, I'll tell you, he didn't want to lose. He was the kind of guy I would like to have on my club.
— Harmon Killebrew
ESPN Classic Remembers Eddie Mathews
On Monday, Feb. 26 from 9-11 p.m. ET, ESPN Classic Remembers will pay tribute to Braves Hall of Fame third baseman Eddie Mathews. He teamed with Hank Aaron to give the Braves a historic home run punch and Milwaukee its only World Series championship, died Sunday. Mathews hit 512 home runs and was the only person to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. The third baseman who played in 10 All-Star games also appeared on the first cover of Sports Illustrated back in 1954.
ESPN Classic Remembers Eddie Mathews
Monday, Feb. 269 p.m. ET - 1957 World Series film
Milwaukee Braves vs. New York Yankees
(also on 2/27 from 1-2 a.m. and 5-6 a.m. ET)10 p.m. ET - Home Run Derby
Eddie Mathews vs. Hank Aaron
(also on 2/27 from 2-2:30 a.m. and 6-6:30 a.m. ET)10:30 p.m. ET - 1959 Milwaukee Braves film
(also on 2/27 from 2:30-3 a.m. and 6:30-7 a.m. ET)
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews left a legacy that included so much more than 512 home runs and a reputation as a great third baseman.
His powerful swing was noticed by Ty Cobb, who called it perfect, and Sports Illustrated, which put him on the cover of its first issue in 1954.
The slugger teamed with Hank Aaron to give the Braves a historic home run punch and Milwaukee its only World Series championship. He was the only person to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.
Mathews died in his sleep Sunday at Scripps La Jolla hospital. He was 69 and had been hospitalized since Sept. 3, when his wife took him to the emergency room after he had trouble breathing.
"He worked so hard to get better," Judy Mathews said. "He just gave out."
Mathews died of complications of pneumonia, said his son, Eddie Jr., an anesthesiologist at Waukesha (Wis.) Memorial Hospital. Mathews also had congestive heart failure, although that didn't play a significant role his death, his son said.
Mathews often batted ahead of Aaron, the cleanup hitter in the Braves' lineup, and they combined to hit 863 homers from 1954-66, the highest total for teammates in major league history. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig teamed for 859 with the New York Yankees.
"He could hit them just as well as I could," Aaron, the career home run leader, said Sunday night. "I was there to shake his hand quite a few times when he crossed home plate.
"He was a better hitter than a lot of people gave him credit for," Aaron added. "He was a good fielder and ran the bases very well, too. He was a great teammate, and a great family man."
Mathews had been in fragile health since being seriously hurt in an accident while on a Caribbean cruise in December 1996.
When Mathews stepped off a boat taking passengers to shore, the boat moved back and he fell into the water. He was crushed three times between the boat and pier, shattering his pelvis.
Doctors believed he had a mild heart attack after that, and he came down with pneumonia while hospitalized in Miami, his wife said a few weeks after the accident.
"That was a big setback," Eddie Jr. said Sunday. "I don't think he physically recovered from that completely."
Mathews played in three World Series, winning two championships, and 10 All-Star games. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1978, he had lived in Del Mar, north of San Diego, for several years.
Mathews' plaque at Cooperstown paid tribute to his power. At his induction ceremony, he playfully credited his mother with making him a pull hitter.
"My mother used to pitch to me and my father would shag balls," he said then. "If I hit one up the middle, close to my mother, I'd have some extra chores to do."
Since Mathews couldn't attend the closing ceremonies at County Stadium in Milwaukee last September, Commissioner Bud Selig, who grew up in Milwaukee rooting for the Braves, arranged for Mathews to watch on television.
"Eddie Mathews was my hero," New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, who played with Mathews from 1960-66, said during last year's postseason. "He was captain and I always called him that.
"He never backed off, never was tentative," Torre said.
When Mathews played, few hitters in baseball were feared more.
He was among only 16 players to hit 500 homers, reaching the mark on July 14, 1967, with a shot off Juan Marichal while playing for Houston at Candlestick Park. At the time, Mathews became only the third player to reach the 500 mark.
Mathews was one of only five players to hit an extra-inning, game-ending home run in the World Series.
In Game 4 of the 1957 World Series, Mathews homered in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat the New York Yankees. Mathews scored the only run in a Game 5 victory.
In Game 7, he hit a two-run double to put the Braves ahead. Then with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Mathews made a backhanded stop on Moose Skowron's hard grounder down the line and stepped on third base to finish off a 5-0 win at Yankee Stadium.
The Braves made it back to the World Series the next year, but blew a 3-1 lead and lost to the Yankees.
Mathews, whose No. 41 was retired by the Braves, managed Atlanta for some of the 1972 season, all of '73 and part of '74. He was the manager when Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record.
Mathews led the NL with 47 homers in 1953 in the Braves' first year after moving from Boston to Milwaukee, and again with 46 in 1959.
He hit 30-plus homers for nine straight years, and posted five 100-plus RBI seasons.
A few years before he appeared on Sports Illustrated's first cover, the teen-age Mathews caught the eye of an aging Cobb, then baseball's career hits leader.
"I've only known three or four perfect swings in my life," Cobb was quoted as saying. "This lad has one of them."
Mathews hit .271 with 1,453 RBIs and 2,315 hits from 1952-68 with the Braves, Houston and Detroit. He was tied with Ernie Banks for 13th on the career homers list.
In his final year, Mathews played sparingly with Detroit. He was on the World Series roster and went 1-for-3 as the Tigers beat St. Louis in seven games.
Edwin Lee Mathews was born on Oct. 13, 1931, in Texarkana, Texas, and grew up in Santa Barbara, Calif. He turned down more money from the Brooklyn Dodgers to join the Boston Braves in 1949, signing his contract on the night he graduated from high school.
He hit 25 homers in 1952, the Braves' only season in Boston, and also became the first rookie hit three home runs in a game.
In 1953, Mathews won the NL homer title and hit Milwaukee's first grand slam. Aaron joined the Braves in 1954, creating a powerful combination.
Mathews stayed with the Braves when they moved to Atlanta for the 1966 season. He was traded to Houston on New Year's Eve and sent to Detroit in August 1967.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by sons Eddie Jr. and John, daughter Stephanie Widule and stepdaughter Sarah Doyle.
A funeral, limited to family and friends, will be held in Santa Barbara, with a memorial at another time. Dates have not been set for either.