Single signed baseball by former member of the 1957 World Champion Milwaukee Braves, DECEASED Hall of Famer and member of the 500 HR Club...Eddie Mathews.

Eddie was named to 12 All-Star teams and he also won 2 HR titles in 1953 and 1959. He played on the 1957 World Champion Milwaukee Braves as well as the 1968 Detroit Tigers. During his career he hit 3 HR in a game once, belted 512 career HR's and was honored by being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. Eddie signed the sweet spot of this ONL Leonard S. Coleman baseball with a blue ballpoint pen and also inscribed underneath his name, "57 WS Champs", to note his affiliation with the great team. Eddie signed this baseball on Sunday October 31, 1999

Eddie Mathews Edwin Lee Mathews

Induction Information Elected to Hall of Fame by Baseball Writers in 1978, Player 301 votes on 379 ballots 79.42%

EDWIN LEE MATHEWS BOSTON N.L., MILWAUKEE N.L., ATLANTA N.L., HOUSTON N.L., DETROIT A.L., 1952-1968 BECAME SEVENTH PLAYER IN MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY TO HIT 500 HOME RUNS. FINISHED CAREER WITH 512. HIT 30 OR MORE HOMERS NINE YEARS IN ROW, 1953-1961, REACHING 40 MARK FOUR TIMES. ESTABLISHED RECORD FOR HOMERS IN SEASON BY THIRD BASEMAN WITH 47 IN 1953. LED N.L. IN HOME RUNS TWICE AND IN WALKS FOUR TIMES. HAD FIVE SEASONS OF 100 OR MORE RUNS BATTED IN.

Born: October 13, 1931, in Texarkana, Texas

Died: February 18, 2001, in La Jolla, California

ML Debut: 4/15/1952

Primary Position: Third Baseman Bats: L Throws: R Primary Uniform #: 41

Played For: Boston Braves (1952), Milwaukee Braves (1953-1965), Atlanta Braves (1966), Houston Astros (1967), Detroit Tigers (1967-1968)

Primary Team: Milwaukee Braves

Managed: Atlanta Braves (1972-1974)

Post-Season: 1957 World Series, 1958 World Series, 1968 World Series

Awards: All-Star (9): 1953, 1955-1962

Bio A feared left-handed slugger, Eddie Mathews became the seventh player in major league history to hit 500 home runs, finishing his career with 512. He walloped more than 30 round-trippers nine years in a row. In 1953, his 47 homers for the Milwaukee Braves led the National League and established a single-season record for third basemen that would last 27 years. A member of two World Championship teams, Mathews was the first athlete featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Quote "I've known three or four perfect swings in my time. This boy's got one of them." — Ty Cobb, on seeing Eddie Mathews

Did You Know... that Eddie Mathews was the only man to play for the Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves, and Atlanta Braves? .

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...

Edwin Lee Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball.

Born in Texarkana, Texas, Eddie Mathews was six years old when his family moved to Santa Barbara, California where he developed into a star high school player. Signed by the Boston Braves in 1949, he continued to shine in their farm system as a left-handed power-hitting third baseman who hit towering home runs. Brought up to the major leagues, in his 1952 rookie season with the Braves, Eddie Mathews hit 25 home runs, including three in one game, breaking the record for rookies. In his second year the franchise moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he batted for a .302 season average, hit 47 home runs, and drove in 135 runs. For nine straight seasons he hit 30 home runs or more including leading the National League twice. As one of 1954's superstars in American sports, Eddie Mathews was chosen for the cover of the first-ever issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.

His team won the 1957 National League championship then, helped by Mathews game-winning home run in the tenth inning of game four, they defeated the New York Yankees to win the World Series.

Eddie Matthews was traded to the Houston Astros before the 1967 season. In 1967, Eddie Mathews became only the seventh player to hit 500 career home runs, and is a member of the 500 home run club. When he retired he was seventh in all-time home runs. Over his seventeen-year major league career, he was named to the All-Star team nine times, hit 512 home runs, played in three World Series, and drove in 100 or more runs five times. As the one-two punch for the Milwaukee Braves, from 1954 to 1966 he and teammate Hank Aaron hit 863 homers (Aaron 442, Mathews 421), moving ahead of the duo of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of the Yankees as the all-time leaders in major league history.

Hall of Famer Ty Cobb once said of Mathews: "I've only known three or four perfect swings in my time. This lad has one of them."

In 1978 Eddie Mathews was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and today still ranks second all-time among third basemen in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage and total bases. He is the only man to play for the Braves team in all three cities they called home: Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. During the 1968 season, Matthews was traded from the Houston Astros to the Detroit Tigers. Mathews retired as a player after the 1968 season with final appearances in two post-season games for the World Series champion Detroit Tigers but came back to manage the Atlanta Braves from 1972 to 1974. He was the manager when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run.

In 1999, he ranked Number 63 on The Sporting News list of Baseball's Greatest Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

In poor health during his final years, Mathews died from complications of pneumonia at age 69 in La Jolla, California. In 2001, the year of Mathews' death, the Braves honored his memory with the placement of patches bearing his retired uniform number, 41, on their jerseys.

Trivia

On September 11, 1966, Mathews was Nolan Ryan's first-ever strikeout victim. The Hall of Fame pitcher would go on to become Major League Baseball's all-time strikeout king with 5,714.

He is the only player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta.

He is also the only player to play, coach, and manage for the same baseball team.

Matthews appeared on the cover of the first issue of Sports Illustrated, dated August 16, 1954.

What you see is what you get...this is the actual baseball that you are bidding on.

Lifetime guarantee in regards to this autographed baseball which also comes with a COA from Gearhart Enterprises, Inc. Member of the UACC. UACC Registered Dealer #RD189.

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