"MINOR LEAGUE DAYS": LEGENDS EDITION: EDDIE MATHEWS

On the blog today, we add Hall of Fame slugger Eddie Mathews to my "Minor League Days- Legends Edition" set, celebrating the often overlooked superstar third baseman:

Mathews put in a solid season with the Atlanta Crackers as an 18-year-old in 1950, giving the Braves organization a glimpse of the future, hitting 32 homers with 106 runs batted in over 146 games, scoring 103 runs while hitting .286.

He would put in another year in the Minors before making his Major league debut in 1952, and it was smooth sailing from there, as he would become one of the great third sackers the game has ever seen.

Simply put, Mathews was a beast at the plate, hitting 30 or more homers in a season ten times during his career, with four of those seasons totaling over 40.
He’d also drive in over 100 runs five times and score over 100 eight times while topping a .300 batting average on three occasions while leading the National League in walks four times, homers twice, and getting named to nine all-star teams.
Twice a runner-up in Most Valuable Player voting, he played for the Braves from Boston, to Milwaukee and their inaugural season in Atlanta in 1966, the only player to do so.
By the time he finished his stellar career Mathews collected 512 homers, 1453 runs batted in, 1509 runs scored and a .271 average along 1444 walks and a .509 slugging average.
Until a guy by the name of Mike Schmidt came along, he was THE power-hitting third baseman in the game's long history.

Incredibly overlooked these days!