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Eddie Mathews
 Third Baseman, Louisville Colonels, Boston Beacons, Cleveland Barons, Atlanta Hilltoppers · 1952-1968

 "I've only known three or four perfect swings in my time - this lad has one of them." -- Ty Cobb on Eddie Mathews

He never earned a proper baseball nickname, probably because there were no words to describe his quiet consistency. However, he did earn a reputation for being the premiere slugging third baseman of his era. Edwin Lee Mathews was the first overall pick by the Louisville Colonels in 1952, but after a weak showing in his first year, was traded to the Boston Beacons, who had high hopes and big plans for him. Eddie did not disappoint. In his thirteen seasons with the organization, he played with teams ranging from pretty good to quite awful, but he could always be counted on to produce regardless. He never slowed down, even when the franchise moved to the much less hitter friendly confines of Cleveland Muni. No fan of the docs, Mathews never spent any significant chunks of time on the DL which greatly bolsters his overall numbers.

As for sheer numbers, Eddie's got 'em. His rookie year was his only disappointing season, but he only got into 52 games. After that, he averaged 27 home runs per season, hitting as many as 38 in 1962, and won the homer title in 1959 with 36. He never dipped below 21 dongs per season until his final injury shortened year (in which he was well on pace to match the feat). He ended his career with 441 clouts. RBI totals were on par as well, totaling 1407 over 17
seasons.  It's not surprising that he made the All-UL squad six times in a nine-year span; what was surprising was the Gold Glove Award he landed in 1954: his first and last defensive kudos.

Mathews struggled with contact, ending his career with an overall .253 average, but made up for it with his sharp eye, averaging a .349 OBP per year. He never had a bad season but his best was 1962 when he finished .294/.436/.613. He was also OPS champion that year (1.049). He fanned about as much as you would expect a pure power hitter to: quite a bit.  Although a hot cornerstone of the Beacons/Barons franchise, Mathews was traded to Atlanta in 1967 where he helped himself and his team to a World Championship.  That was his first and only World Series win, though he fell short in two tries with Cleveland. In 1968, he was released by the Hilltoppers and found a home in AA Chattanooga where he spent three seasons and never once complained. He was quite productive in his Two-A ball stint, amassing a .537 SLG% and .922 OPS.  Eddie Mathews was finally released before retiring in 1971.

Did you know: "Real life" Eddie Mathews was on the cover of the first issue of Sports Illustrated and was the only Major Leaguer to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.  (Charlie Qualls)

AWARDS & ACCOLADES
All-UL Team (1954, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963)
Gold Glove Award (1954)
Home Run Champion (1959)
OPS Champion (1962)
4-time Player of the Month, 4-time Player of the Week
 

Career Batting Stats
Year/Team Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS RC
1952 Atlanta 20 52 147 29 8 1 3 16 13 10 44 2 4 .197 .248 .327 .575 11.4
1953 Boston 21 149 504 126 26 3 27 90 71 47 155 1 6 .250 .314 .474 .788 76.2
1954 Boston 22 146 488 126 24 3 21 93 86 68 143 7 3 .258 .349 .449 .798 81.5
1955 Boston 23 149 509 150 24 9 27 97 96 75 131 5 1 .295 .385 .536 .922 112.2
1956 Boston 24 145 509 119 23 4 27 82 69 68 173 4 3 .234 .324 .454 .778 79.4
1957 Boston 25 148 488 116 26 6 26 74 74 59 127 4 2 .238 .320 .475 .795 78.3
1958 Boston 26 141 414 115 20 2 28 92 66 49 92 1 5 .278 .354 .539 .893 81.0
1959 Boston 27 145 461 122 18 4 36 90 78 74 105 2 2 .265 .367 .555 .922 100.4
1960 Cleveland 28 144 479 127 23 5 31 114 80 68 115 6 4 .265 .353 .528 .881 95.6
1961 Cleveland 29 148 499 118 18 5 27 96 77 89 153 4 1 .236 .349 .455 .804 88.7
1962 Cleveland 30 149 432 127 20 2 38 100 88 109 126 4 2 .294 .436 .613 1.049 128.4
1963 Cleveland 31 151 535 131 21 2 35 98 75 87 126 4 1 .245 .351 .488 .839 94.9
1964 Cleveland 32 125 465 113 19 5 27 84 63 69 109 1 3 .243 .339 .480 .818 73.7
1965 Cleveland 33 138 502 120 17 3 30 94 70 88 104 3 3 .239 .352 .464 .816 87.1
1966 Cleveland 34 147 484 107 19 1 23 74 66 72 88 1 3 .221 .324 .407 .731 63.4
1967 Atlanta 35 128 381 97 16 0 21 65 58 56 78 0 2 .255 .348 .462 .810 64.0
1968 Atlanta 36 90 274 74 12 0 14 48 46 33 70 1 1 .270 .350 .467 .818 47.0
Total UL 2295 7571 1917 334 55 441 1407 1176 1121 1939 50 46 .253 .349 .487 .836 1352