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January 25
January 25: Hank Aaron & Eddie Mathews
January 25 Eddie Mathews & Hank Aaron:
As teammates Hank Aaron & Eddie Mathews hit 863 homeruns, the most combined in MLB history.
From 1954 to 1966, Mathews and Aaron led the Braves attack. During those 13 seasons they ranked #2 (Aaron) and #4 (Mathews) in baseball in games played. They were first and third in hits (Aaron leading), second and fourth (Mathews) in runs and runs created, first and third (Mathews) in RBI, and their combined 863 homers were the most by teammates ever. Aaron clubbed 442, Mathews 421, good for second and and fourth in baseball over that stretch. Perhaps no team in history has had two such great sluggers over that long of a period. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig teamed for ten seasons, while Willie Mays and Willie McCovey were paired for 13 ½ seasons, but didn't enjoy the same success, relative to their league, as Aaron and Eddie.
Watch them “battle in HR derby in 1960.
A few things about Eddie.
Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella said “He could wait on a pitch as well as anybody. He hit balls that, I swear, were almost in my glove.” It wasn’t long before the entire league was talking about Mathews' beautiful swing from the left side of the plate.
One of the most feared sluggers in the National League in the 1950s, Eddie Mathews is the only man to play for the Braves in all three cities they called home: Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. When he was traded to the Houston Astros prior to the 1967 season, he cried. Mathews returned to Atlanta after he retired, and managed longtime teammate Hank Aaron when Aaron broke Ruth’s home run record. Mathews and Aaron own the all-time record for most career homers as teammates.
FactoidEddie Mathews may have been the first athlete stricken by the "Sports Illustrated Curse." After appearing on the magazine's first cover, the slugger injured his hand and missed seven games.
Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella said “He could wait on a pitch as well as anybody. He hit balls that, I swear, were almost in my glove.” It wasn’t long before the entire league was talking about Mathews' beautiful swing from the left side of the plate.
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Best,
Tom
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Trivia:
Who is the only player to hit homeruns for the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Braves and Boston Braves?
Warren Spahn
Hank Aaron
Eddie Mathews
Hint: The answer is below
COOL FACT . . . If we highlight an event, player milestone there is an audio vault on Classic Baseball Broadcast. Games, interviews and more to take a deeper dive.
January 25 1945 — Larry MacPhail, Dan Topping and Del Webb purchase the New York Yankees for $2.8 million from the heirs of previous owner Jacob Ruppert. The new owners announce that Ed Barrow will remain in place as general manager, but a month later they will install MacPhail as GM.
January 25, 1964 – On a chilly day in County Stadium, Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews both signed their contracts with the Braves for 1964.Mathewson took a slight pay cut from 1963, dropping from $62,500 to $57,500 and Aaron signed on for $62,000 a large increase from his $53,000 in 1963. At the time, the pair ranked third in home runs by teammates, with 692. Only Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig and Duke Snider/Gil Hodges were ahead of them. Ultimately the Braves sluggers hit 863 homers and rank number one of all time.
January 25, 1970, future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro is taken to a hospital to undergo an emergency appendectomy. In 1969, Niekro won 23 games for the Atlanta Braves and finished second in the National League’s Cy Young voting. Perhaps as a result of the surgery, Niekro will fall off to 12-18 in 1970.
January 25 1974 — Ray Kroc, a fast-food entrepreneur (McDonald’s), buys the San Diego Padres for $12 million, ending talk of a possible move to Washington, DC.
January 25, 1978, the San Diego Padres acquire well-traveled pitcher Gaylord Perry from the Texas Rangers. The Padres surrender pitcher Dave Tomlin and $125,000 in cash. Perry will win 21 games for the Padres in 1978 and capture the Cy Young Award.
Passed away on January 25, 1991. . . Hoot Evers An outstanding prospect, Evers never achieved the stardom predicted for him. After his career was delayed four years by WWII, he returned as the Tigers’ starting centerfielder in 1946, only to miss half the season with a broken ankle. He played his first full season in 1947, hitting .296, then hit over .300 three straight years. He peaked in 1950, making his second All-Star appearance, leading AL outfielders in fielding (.997), and hitting .323 with 21 homers, 103 RBI, and a league-leading 11 triples. He also hit for the cycle September 7. He slumped badly the next year. In 1952, as the Red Sox’ left fielder while Ted Williams was in the military, a broken finger hampered Evers’s batting grip and he never regained his stroke. A fine defensive player, Evers bounced from team to team until 1956 but never hit higher than .264
HIGHLIGHTED GAME OF THE DAY:
Game of the day – Game of the day, in January 1960 teammates Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews face off in 9 inning home run derby
MILESTONES
Birthday Boys!
Ernie Fazio, Ernie Harwell, Ted Kazanski, Vern Ruhle and Wally Bunker
Passings.
Bill Monbouque, Bill Slater, Hoot Evers and Pat Crawford
Quote of the day:
“He stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched that one go by.”
Hall of Famer - Ernie Harwell Call - side note One of his favorite poems was “House By the Side of the Road” by Sam Walter Foss, written in 1898. Shortly after his broadcast career began in the 1940s, Ernie used that phrase to describe a batter who took a called third strike.
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Trivia Answer: Eddie Mathews
