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Vince Jankosi is back today, this time making the case that Eddie Mathews is the best pre-Mike Schmidt third baseman. As usual, Vince has done his homework and makes a very strong case. See if you agree. -GL
The Case For Eddie Mathews
To mark the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, in 1969 MLB selected an all-time team. Some of the selections were controversial, but none more so than the pick of Pie Traynor as the all-time third baseman. This was before the advent of the career of Mike Schmitt which laid to rest any dispute as to who was the GOAT among third sackers.
But Pie Traynor? Traynor was a superior player. He batted .320 over a 17-year career, albeit with little power. His fielding stats were modest by today’s standards, however, in his day (1920-1935, 1937) gloves were less advanced and infields were often rock hard. He was generally on the top of MVP lists each year. He participated in the first two All-Star games. Plus, his name was Pie. How can you beat that? Actually, his given name was Harold. On the other hand, he only led his league in any offensive category one time – triples in 1923.
Give Traynor his due, but what about Eddie Mathews? Mathews also played for 17 years. His batting average was much lower than Traynor’s (.271 vs. .320), but his other stats far surpass Traynor’s. See the following chart:
Traynor Matthews
Home Runs 58 512
On Base % .362 .376
Slugging Ave. .435 .509
OPS .797 .885
OPS + 107 143
WAR 38.7 96
Mathews led the league in home runs twice, walks four times, and on-base percentage once. He hit 40 or more homers four times with a high of 47, and in excess of 100 RBIs five times with a best of 135. He was an All-Star nine times, 12 if you count the years that two games were played. He was second in the MVP voting in 1953 and 1959. He is the only player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. Of interesting note, in the 13 years he played alongside Hank Aaron (1954-1966) Mathews out-homered Hammering Hank in 5 of those seasons (1954-1956, and 1958-1959) and tied him in another (1965). You’ve got to be some kind of power hitter to accomplish that feat. Mathews was a respectable fielder, but not outstanding.
True, Traynor hit almost 50 points higher than Mathews. However, that figure needs to be put in perspective. Batting averages were higher in Traynor’s day, due mostly to the absence of night baseball. For example, Traynor’s highest batting average was .366 in 1930. For that effort, he was tied for 12th in the major leagues. Bill Terry led the majors that year with a .401 average. The New York Giants as a team hit .319 and finished fifth. The National League as a league hit .303. By contrast, Mathews’ best seasons for batting average were 1959 and 1961, hitting .306 in each of those seasons. In 1959, he, like Traynor in 1930, was tied for twelve in the majors. In 1961, he was thirteenth. Adjusted for playing era, Mathews’ batting averages were comparable to Traynor’s.
While we are adjusting for playing era, you say, why don’t we take into account the fact that more home runs were hit during Mathews’ playing days? Ok. Let’s do that. During Traynor’s day, MLB averaged about 1,000 home runs per year, slightly higher toward the end of Traynor’s career and reaching a high of 1,565 in the hitting-crazy 1930 season. During Mathews’ time in the majors, the major league totals were around 2,200 round-trippers per year, not enough to offset the huge difference in power numbers between Matthews and Traynor.
The difference between 58 home runs and 512 dingers is huge. To put this in perspective, Mathews hit more home runs than Mel Ott, Lou Gehrig, and Stan Musial. He is tied with Ernie Banks. He is nine behind Ted Williams and has two dozen less than Mickey Mantle. That’s pretty powerful company.
Some at the time made the case for Brooks Robinson for the all-time third-sacker. In 1969, Robinson was in the middle of his illustrious career. He had hit less than 200 home runs. It’s hard to say someone is the GOAT when he still had many years left to prove or disprove his candidacy. Besides, Robinson’s career offensive numbers don’t stack up to Mathews’. Robinson’s career batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage fall below Mathews’ numbers: .267, .322, .401 for Robinson versus .271, .376, .509 for Mathews. Wins against replacement favor Mathews 96 to 78.4. True, Robinson saved a lot of games with his glove, however, on balance I think the offensive numbers outweigh any defensive advantage. The numbers, especially the power numbers, tell the tale. On balance, I give the pre-Mike Schmitt GOAT nod to Mathews over Traynor or Robinson.
Vince Jankoski
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Nice article about Eddie Mathews. I remember; as a little kid, first hearing about him while listening to my transistor radio {while @ school} of the 1957 & ’58 WS. Interesting that he was the only Braves player to have played for all three locales of the Braves franchise : Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. I briefly saw him one time @ an Elks Lodge Christmas party {my ex-in laws were members} in Encinitas, CA. At the time, he resided in Del Mar, CA. I think he was kinda inebriated, but was friendly with everyone and quite humble. I don’t think most people there knew who he was. BTW, not that I’m claiming to be a professional proof-reader or anything, but his last name is spelled with only one “T”. Always look forward to the great BHCA content. Thnx. “PLAY BALL” !
Wow! Thanks so much Tom for catching that, especially so early on. That got past both Vince and me. And thanks for pointing it out so, shall I say, diplomatically! If I had left that up there much longer, I can tell you from previous experience that I would have caught a ration of grief. I corrected it and I think I got them all!
Tom- What part of Chicago were you originally from?
E.Chicago, IN ….right next to that armpit they call Gary. Moved to SoCal Sept. ’58. Yes, and as you say, gotta have lotsa “give and take” on here. I would say that the rest of the readers would agree with me, when I say that you mostly “give”, Gary. Enjoy your weekend. “PLAY BALL” !
Gary, I don’t think you could ever post anything on the BHCA site that would warrant a “ration of grief”. Anybody who would, is not a baseball lifer like us. Geeesh, all my WSox guys are coming to the West Coast it seems. {Giolito to Anaheim, and likely Lynn to Dodgers}. Are the Cubs expected to make many moves ? Wow, you sure pinched us hard in the two games recently played down on the South-side. Gee, thnx alot…hahaha.
Maybe not a ration of grief here on BHCA, but if I let that go on Facebook, where I usually also publish these essays, trust me, I never would have heard the end of it! Fortunately, our readers here are a bit more underatanding of an occsional slipup. And boy do I apprciate that. We have a lot more good-hearted give-and-take around here!
V i n c e, super s t a t review! But t r a y n o r was a RBI machine and that’s what wins games. However, agree with your conclusion. Thanks!
Great article. Mathews was a great player and one of the top stars of his generation. Let’s not forget that he had to face the likes of Koufax, Marichal and Gibson. I once had a conversation with Johnny Logan and Johnny said that Mathews was very protective of his teammates. Opponents would think twice before taking them on.
East Coast Bias! Long career mainly in Midwestern Milwaukee. Eddie Matthews was clearly a better 3rd baseman than either Traynor or Robinson (good field, no hit).
Plus, he played in the shadow of Hank Aaron who got most of the publicity. Was there a better 1-2 punch than those two. Food for thought.
I would like some responses to a mystery about the great Eddie Mathews. It always bewildered me that when NL expansion occurred in 1962 and along with it the dilution of decent pitching, Mathews’ homerun stats went south. He was still a young man baseball wise (31), yet as his teammate Aaron’s homer yearly totals increased over past seasons Eddie’s went down. Did he not stay in shape? Did he have eyesight problems? Or did he just lose his skills sooner than others? I followed his career as a boy and thought it was cruel of Atlanta to trade him the year before he got his 500th homer.
As someone who is more sensitive than most about misspelling of a surname, I humbly apologize to Mathews (posthumously), his family, and his great host of fans.
No apology needed. I have a mental block on some names, Mathews being one. I almost always spell it wrong. Another is Harry Caray. Is it a or e in last name? Whenever I write about him, I have to double check…and I usually still get it wrong. Don Larsen is another, e or o? (I had it wrong even as I was writing this!). There are others.
Edwin lee Mathews was my first favorite player
I was a huge Brave fan from 1964 to present. Ed was a minor league hitting instructor after his managerial days with the Braves. Rumor has it he had a beer with some of his players and was fired. I felt terrible about it. So I ask information and got his phone # I called him at 11am Eastern time forgetting that there was a 3hr time difference and he answered the phone. He thought I was calling about doing a baseball card show. He asked what I wanted told him how sorry I was about him being fired. He said that was Baseball but them complained about the money the players making in 1992. He said the most he ever made was 65,000. And that Conseco could carry his jock strap. He then said to send him a dozen balls and he would sign them for free. I thank him but never send him the balls feeling I was taking advantage of him. What a player and great guy. I have his Hall of Fame plaque on my wall. My other favorite was Tom Seaver who I met at a Baseball instructor camp. I also went to Bob Feller camp in Ct in 1968. I am sure he thought I was a pain in the ass I always sat next to him on our bus trips and love asking him about his playing days.
Thanks for checking in Al. Great insights. I always love the persoanl stuff like this. Please stay in touch!