Eddie Mathews 2001 Deaths

Eddie Mathews

left-handed slugging third baseman and 10-time All-Star, who has the distinction of being the only player to suit up for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta; combined with Hank Aaron to form the most prolific home run tandem in Major League Baseball history; the duo hit 863 homers from 1954-66, the highest total for teammates (Gehrig and Ruth had 859); hit 512 career home runs; hit 30-plus homers for nine straight years and posted five, 100-plus RBI seasons; one of only five players to hit an extra-inning game-winning home run in the World Series, as he did in Game 4 in 1957; won World Series titles with Milwaukee (1957) and Detroit (1968); twice led the N.L. in home runs (1953,1959); featured on the first cover of Sports Illustrated in August 1954; managed Atlanta during the mid-1970s; inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. He died of complications from pneumonia.