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Hall of Famer Mathews dead at 69
Updated: Monday February 19, 2001 4:49 AM
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews, who teamed with Hank Aaron to give the Braves a historic home run punch and Milwaukee its only World Series championship, died Sunday. He was 69. Mathews died in his sleep at Scripps La Jolla hospital, his wife, Judy, said. He had been hospitalized since Sept. 3, when she 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 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.
The slugger often batted ahead of Aaron, the cleanup hitter in the Braves' lineup. They combined to hit 863 homers from 1954-66, the highest total for teammates in major league history. "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. He was a good fielder and ran the bases very well, too," he said. "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.
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 played in the World Series three times, winning two championships. He 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. Then in Game 7, with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, 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 1973 and part of 1974. He was the manager when Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record. Mathews led the NL with 47 home runs 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. Along with making it to Cooperstown, Mathews used his powerful left-handed swing to land on the first cover of Sports Illustrated. He was pictured in mid-swing when the magazine made its debut in August 1954, with a shot of him batting at County Stadium against the New York Giants. A few years earlier as a teen-ager, Mathews caught the eye of an aging Ty 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 homer 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. Mathews earned praise from Cobb in 1951 at age 19, then joined the Braves in 1952. He hit 25 homers in the team's 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. "He came from rough-and-tumble," Judy Mathews said. "He was a very generous, caring person." 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.
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