THE 1966 BRAVES: #41 EDDIE MATHEWS

#41 EDDIE MATHEWS
Third Baseman/Captain

What Came Before: [/B] Cap'n Eddie arrived in Atlanta as the lone living link between Boston and Atlanta, and after having him named fulltime captain the season before, expectations were high that the lefty hitting third baseman would thrive in a lineup loaded with right-handers.
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His 1965 production was one encouraging sign: .251-32-95, and was only the fourth time in his career that he struck out more than he walked.
When Mathews was on his game, he was frustratingly patient, leading the lead in walks four times.

And, according to his SABR bio, he was also tough, period: drawing almost as much attention for his fighting prowess as for his hitting. In 1954, after Brooklyn pitcher Clem Labine hit Milwaukee’s Joe Adcock in the head with a fastball, the Braves’ Gene Conley retaliated by knocking down Jackie Robinson. Later that inning, Robinson slid into third with his spikes high and found himself in a fistfight with Mathews. In 1960, Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds slammed into Eddie at third and received the same response. “Eddie hit him with three punches that not even Muhammad Ali could have stopped,” recalled teammate Warren Spahn years later. “He didn’t back down from anybody.” Another beanball war against the Dodgers in 1956 ended with Eddie pummeling rookie pitcher Don Drysdale.
But more than anything, he arrived in Atlanta as a sure-thing Hall of Famer, bringing with him 477 homers, two single-season homer titles and over 1,300 RBIs.

That 1966 season: To the dismay of Braves' fans, it turned out that the Mathews that arrived in Atlanta in '66 was an “old” 34-year-old. He played in “only” 134 games, the least of his major league career up to then. In his first 70 games, he hit a paltry .207 with six homers, but regrouped somewhat in the second half of the season. But at year's end, Mathews' 53 RBIs were a large disappointments.

What Followed After: It was a New Year's Eve shocker, yet it wasn't: one month after the Braves traded for the Yankees' third baseman, Clete Boyer, the Braves traded Mathews, Arnie Umbach and (later) Sandy Alomar to the Astros for a sturdy starter, Bob Bruce, and a strikeout-prone outfielder, Dave Nicholson.
But Mathews had little value to a second-division team in 1967, and after 15 years with one team, he was on the move to his second time in half-a-year as the Detroit Tigers brought him over for the stretch run of the 1967 AL pennant race. He provided six homers to the stretch run, earning him a 1968 contract. In mid-June, his back gave out on him, requiring surgery in July and shelving him until the very end of the season. But the Tigers were the team to beat in '68 and Mathews' final major league at-bat came in the '68 World Series, and he retired after winning his second ring.
Mathews' no-nonsense style had him in demand as a coach and a manager. He finally agreed, joining the Braves in 1971 as a coach, and agreed to replace Luman Harris in 1972 as manager. While the Braves did not win anything during his tenure, he waws the skipper when friend and teammate Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's homer record. Later in life, Mathews revealed that ongoing drinking problems cost him several jobs in baseball, including the Braves' managerial role. He was fired midway through the 1974 season, but continued to work as a scout and instructor for the Rangers, Brewers and Athletics.
In 1978, Mathews was elected to the Hall of Fame in his fifth year of eligibility.
His decline followed soon thereafter. In 1982, a case of pneumonia left him bedridden for months. In 1996, he fell while boarding a boat and was crushed between the dock and the boat. He never fully recovered, and died from respiratory failure in 2001.