Celebrity Deathwatch: Eddie Mathews, Baseball Hall of Famer, 69

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/news/2001/02/18/mathews_ap/

Hall of Famer Mathews dies

Posted: Sunday February 18, 2001 2:04 PM
Updated: Sunday February 18, 2001 2:35 PM

LA JOLLA, Calif. (AP) -- Eddie Mathews, who hit 512 home runs in a Hall of
Fame career and was the only person to play for the Braves in Boston,
Milwaukee and Atlanta, died Sunday. He was 69.

He died in his sleep at the Scripps La Jolla hospital, his wife, Judy, said.

Mathews had been hospitalized since his wife took him to the emergency room
Sept. 3 after he had trouble breathing.

Mathews was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He also had lung
problems and pneumonia after being hospitalized.

"He worked so hard to get better," his wife said. "He just gave out."

He had been in fragile health since an accident a few years ago on a
Caribbean cruise. He fell overboard and was crushed between the boat and a
pier, and his pelvis was crushed.

Mathews often batted ahead of cleanup man Hank Aaron in the Braves' lineup,
and they combined to hit 863 homers from 1954-66, the highest total in major
league history for teammates. They also helped bring Milwaukee its only
World Series championship in 1957.

Along with making it to Cooperstown, Mathews used his powerful left-handed
swing to land on the first cover of Sports Illustrated.

Mathews 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 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1978.

One of baseball's greatest third basemen, Mathews played in 10 All-Star
games. He was one of only five players to hit an extra-inning, game-ending
home run in the World Series and was on two teams that won the championship.

Last September, Mathews was invited to take part in the closing ceremonies
at County Stadium in Milwaukee, but was in failing health and could not
attend.

Commissioner Bud Selig, who grew up in Milwaukee rooting for the Braves,
arranged to have the festivities shown on the television in Mathews' hotel
room.

"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 he played, few hitters in baseball were feared more.

Mathews is among only 16 players to hit 500 homers, reaching the mark July
14, 1967, with a shot off Juan Marichal while playing for Houston at
Candlestick Park.

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.

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.

Many years earlier, Aaron and Mathews helped bring glory to the Braves in
Milwaukee.

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 of the World Series, with the bases loaded and two outs in
the bottom of the ninth inning, Mathews made a diving, 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.

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 became an instant smash in the minors. While playing at old Ponce de
Leon Park in Atlanta, he became the only player ever to hit a ball into the
magnolia tree that grew in deep center field, about 475 feet from home
plate.

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 3-4 combination
with Mathews.

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, will be held in Santa Barbara, with a memorial
at another time. Dates have not been set for either.

Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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