Third Baseman, Milwaukee
Braves
Age: 21
2nd season
with Braves
Bats – Left,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’1” Weight: 190
Prior to 1953:
Born in
Texarkana, Texas, Mathews moved with his family to Santa Barbara, California at
a young age. He performed well in football as well as baseball in high school. Heavily
scouted for his skill as a good-hitting third baseman, the 17-year-old Mathews
signed with the Boston Braves just after midnight following his high school
graduation in 1949, in order to comply with major league rules that forbade
signing a player who hadn’t yet graduated from high school, and also having
determined that the Braves had the oldest starting third sacker at the time. He
received a $6000 signing bonus and was assigned to High Point-Thomasville of
the Class D North Carolina State League. He made an immediate favorable
impression by batting .363 with 20 doubles, 17 home runs, 56 RBIs, a .444
on-base percentage, and a .683 slugging percentage. Advancing to the Atlanta
Crackers of the Class AA Southern Association in 1950, Mathews hit .286 with 24
doubles, 9 triples, 32 home runs, 106 RBIs, a .362 OBP, and a .536 slugging
percentage as the Crackers won the league pennant. Following the season he
joined the Navy but was discharged after a few months due to his father’s
illness with tuberculosis that made him unable to work, thus making the
19-year-old Mathews the family’s sole source of support. Returning to baseball
in 1951 he played a total of 49 games with teams at Class AA and AAA, batting
.292 with 7 home runs, 34 RBIs, a .409 OBP, and a .540 slugging percentage.
Invited to spring training with the Braves in 1952, he won the starting job at
third base where he went on to hit .242 with 23 doubles, 25 home runs, 58 RBIs,
a .320 OBP, and a .447 slugging percentage. On the downside, his average and
RBI totals were on the low side, he led the league by striking out 115 times,
and his play in the field was shaky. Beyond that he displayed impressive
potential and capped his season with a three-home run performance in a game
against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, a first for a NL rookie, and
which meant he had homered at least once in every NL ballpark. He placed third
in league Rookie of the Year voting. The Braves left Boston for Milwaukee prior
to the 1953 season.
1953 Season Summary
Appeared in 157
games
3B – 157
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 681 [6]
At Bats – 579 [19]
Runs – 110 [5,
tied with Richie Ashburn & Solly Hemus]
Hits – 175 [10,
tied with Bobby Thomson]
Doubles – 31 [12,
tied with Jim Gilliam]
Triples – 8 [8,
tied with seven others]
Home Runs – 47 [1]
RBI – 135 [2]
Bases on Balls
– 99 [4]
Int. BB – 16 [1]
Strikeouts – 83
[8, tied with Jim Greengrass]
Stolen Bases – 1
Caught Stealing
– 3
Average - .302 [13,
tied with Gil Hodges]
OBP - .406 [4,
tied with Monte Irvin]
Slugging Pct. -
.627 [1, tied with Duke Snider]
Total Bases – 363
[2]
GDP – 6
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 1
Sac Flies – N/A
League-leading home
runs were +5 ahead of runner-up Duke Snider
League-leading
int. bases on balls drawn were +3 ahead of four runners-up
Midseason
snapshot: 2B – 12, 3B – 5, HR - 27, RBI - 75, AVG - .304, SLG - .644, OBP –
.407
---
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 5 AB) at Cincinnati 6/30 – 10 innings
Longest hitting
streak – 8 games
HR at home – 17
HR on road – 30
Most home runs,
game – 2 on six occasions
Multi-HR games
– 6
Most RBIs, game
– 6 at Chi. Cubs 4/22
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 495
Put Outs – 154
Assists – 311
Errors – 30
DP – 33
Pct. - .939
Awards & Honors:
All-Star
(Started for NL at 3B)
2nd
in NL MVP voting (216 points – 3 first place votes, 64% share)
---
In their first
season in Milwaukee, the Braves went 92-62 to finish second in the NL, 13 games
behind the pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers while drawing 1,826,397 spectators
to County Stadium. The Braves quickly moved into contention and were in first
place, on and off, from May 23 until June 27. The club ultimately couldn’t keep
pace with the Dodgers and dropped into second place.
Aftermath of 1953:
With drive and
an excellent work ethic, Mathews, now established as a batting star, worked
hard to improve his fielding. Tough and muscular, he was prone to occasionally
be combative both on and off the field. He followed up on his strong 1953
showing by batting .290 in 1954 with 21 doubles, 40 home runs, 103 RBIs, a .423
OBP, and a .603 slugging percentage. His strikeouts dropped to 61 and he tied
for nineteenth in league MVP voting, despite dealing with some nagging injuries.
Having hit 112 homers in his first three seasons, it was widely speculated that
Mathews would be the most likely slugger to surpass Babe Ruth’s career home run
record. But it would be a teammate who joined him in 1954, Hank Aaron, who
would break the record, although Mathews would out-homer Aaron while with the
Braves in Milwaukee. Mathews’ 1955 season was briefly interrupted by a bout
with appendicitis although he went on to bat .289 with 23 doubles, 5 triples,
41 home runs, 101 RBIs, a .413 OBP, and a .601 slugging percentage, once again
receiving MVP votes for his efforts. The Braves narrowly lost the pennant in
1956 and Mathews was bothered by a slump during the season’s first half but
finished at .272 with 21 doubles, 37 home runs, 95 RBIs, a .373 OBP, and a .518
slugging percentage. Milwaukee won the NL pennant in 1957 and Mathews
contributed by hitting .292 with 28 doubles, 9 triples, 32 home runs, 94 RBIs,
a .387 OBP, and a .540 slugging percentage. Initially held in check in the
World Series against the New York Yankees, his tenth inning home run won Game 4,
he scored the only run in Game 5 to bolster RHP Lew Burdette to his second of
three wins and a two-run double in the third inning in support of Burdette in
the decisive seventh game commenced Milwaukee’s championship-clinching win. He
also made the last out of Game 7 as he fielded a ground ball with two out and
the bases loaded and stepped on third. The Braves repeated as NL champs in 1958
but Mathews had a lesser season, although he was still an All-Star batting .251
with 31 home runs, 77 RBIs, a .349 OBP, and a .458 slugging percentage. There
were no heroics in the World Series, again against the Yankees, who rebounded
from a three-games-to-one deficit. The Braves narrowly lost out on the NL
pennant in 1959 but Mathews had an outstanding season, leading the league with
46 home runs while hitting .306 with 114 RBIs, a .390 OBP, and a .593 slugging
percentage. In 1960 he overcame an early slump to bat .277 with 39 home runs,
124 RBIs, a .397 OBP, and a .551 slugging percentage. Having become a more
disciplined hitter than in his early days with the Braves, he batted .306 in
1961 with 23 doubles, 6 triples, 32 home runs, 91 RBIs, a .402 OBP, and a .535
slugging percentage. While he was moving steadily up the career home run list,
he was still a leading power hitter but not putting up the same season totals
as he had previously. He was also among the better all-around third sackers. A
shoulder injury suffered in 1962 further limited Mathews’ power, although he
ended up with 29 home runs while hitting .265 with 25 doubles, 6 triples, 90
RBIs, a .381 OBP, and a .496 slugging percentage. Although his home run total
dropped to 23 in 1963, he remained a feared slugger and topped the NL in walks
drawn for the third straight year (and fourth overall) while batting .263 with
27 doubles, 84 RBIs, a .399 OBP, and a .453 slugging percentage. Mathews saw
his batting average dip to .233 in 1964 while producing 19 doubles, 23 home
runs, 74 RBIs, a .344 OBP, and a .412 slugging percentage. The Braves remained
a hard-hitting club in their last Milwaukee season in 1965 and Mathews
contributed by hitting .251 with 34 doubles, 32 home runs, 95 RBIs, a .341 OBP,
and a .469 slugging percentage. With the franchise’s move to Atlanta in 1966,
Mathews became the only player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee, and
Atlanta. Showing clear signs of significant decline in 1966, he batted .250
with 21 doubles, 16 home runs, 53 RBIs, a .341 OBP, and a .420 slugging
percentage. In the offseason Mathews was traded to the Houston Astros and
during 1967 he played primarily at first base for his new club until dealt to
the Detroit Tigers in August. Having hit his 500th career home run
with Houston, where he batted .238 with 10 home runs, 38 RBIs, and a .333 OBP,
Mathews found himself with a contending club in Detroit where he provided
veteran leadership while filling in at third and first base and hitting .231
with 6 home runs, 19 RBIs, and a .331 OBP. He was lauded for his help to the
Tigers during a hot stretch run in a crowded pennant race. Mathews returned to
Detroit in a reserve role in 1968 and, while missing substantial time due to an
injury, in 31 games he hit .212 with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs. The Tigers won the
pennant and Mathews appeared in two World Series games as Detroit came from
behind to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals. Mathews retired following the season.
For his major league career, he batted .271 with 2325 hits that included 354
doubles, 72 triples, and 512 home runs. The tough, highly competitive, and
consistent Mathews scored 1509 runs and compiled 1453 RBIs, a .376 OBP, and a
.509 slugging percentage. With the Braves he batted .273, scored 1452 runs with
2201 hits, 338 doubles, 70 triples, 493 home runs, a .379 OBP, and a .517
slugging percentage. Appearing in 16 World Series games (14 with the Braves) he
hit .200 with a home run and 7 RBIs. A 12-time All-Star, he was inducted into
the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. The Braves retired his #41. Following his
playing career, he managed the Braves from 1972-74, compiling a 149-161 record.
Heavy drinking figured in his being married four times and having difficulty
holding onto jobs in baseball. Mathews died in 2001 at age 69.
---
Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league
in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum
of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who
led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a
minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between
the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc.
players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the
postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.
