Eddie Mathews and the National Pastime

by Eddie Mathews, Bob Buege

Anyone who followed baseball during the 1950s will remember Hall of Fame third baseman Eddie Mathews, who played on two World Series teams (1957 and 1958) for the Milwaukee Braves and spent 16 years in the National League before being traded to the Detroit Tigers. Beginning with his days in Class D ball in 1949, Mathews follows his career and to a lesser extent his personal life in this appealing autobiography. Although the book isn't written in a sophisticated style ("the whole subject of player salaries today makes me want to puke"), Mathews' laid-back tone seems a perfect match with his down-to-earth personality. As someone who played with Hank Aaron (the two still hold baseball's record for most homers as teammates), roomed with Bob Uecker ("like rooming with the Marx Brothers"), and drank with Billy Martin ("if you backed him into the corner, he'd punch your lights out"), Mathews has plenty of stories to relay. Out of baseball now (he frankly admits his drinking cost him a number of coaching jobs), Mathews, like so many retired players, remembers his big-league days as the best years of his life.

Genres: Baseball

347 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 1994

Reviews

[A.J. Chilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Mathews was a great home run hitter and a fine fielding third baseman for the great Milwaukee Braves teams of the late 1950s, his legacy seems to be tarnished by alcohol. I had read Denny McLain's book "I Told You I'm Not Perfect", and came across that part which described Mathews' drinking. This book did nothing to refute what McLain said. In fact, Mathews denied even being an alcoholic, although the Braves' organization did order him into a detox center, so he could keep a job that he ended up losing, anyhow. Mathews is a Hall of Famer, but he was not a Hall of Desirable Character.

[Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent autobiography by Mathews. Covers his career and has interesting stories of many of the players he played with. A must read for any Braves fan.

[Garrett Huck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good year by year of his career. Actually would have been interested in a bit more of his personal story. Great book!

[Shay Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eddie Mathews was a favorite player of my childhood, probably my second favorite after Norm Cash. Having read co-author Bob Bruege's excellent history of the Milwaukee Braves, I expected this to be mostly written by him. Honestly, I pretty much expected The Joe Shlobotnik Story. it wasn't like that at all. The great majority of the book is told in Mathews' own voice and it reads like spending an evening listening to an old friend. Bruege merely adds a page or two at the end of each chapter (except the final one) to add the things that the modest Mr. Mathews left out.

One of the best things about this book is that it gave me a real sense of what it was like to be a ball player in the 50s and 60s. He starts with being a minor leaguer and goes all the way through his post-playing days as a manager and scout. I really loved the early chapters about his days playing for the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association, and the middle section about his experiences during the heyday of the Milwaukee major league club. And, of course, as a Tiger fan, I loved reading about his final season and a half, playing for the Detroit team.

Eddie Mathews is plainspoken, down to earth, and a good story teller--but without crossing certain lines a la "Ball Four" and other expose-type baseball books. Parts of the book struck me as quite sad. The whole book fairly swims in alcohol, and after 3 marriages and a succession of jobs after his playing days ended, I felt like such a great player and decent guy ended up kind of on the down side, a little bit. I would have wished happier times for the slugger I cheered for at Tiger Stadium when I was 12 and 13 and loved baseball in a way that only kids can. Highly recommended for anyone with any interest at all in the subject matter.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was growing up in Milwaukee during the heyday of the Braves, Eddie Mathews was my favorite player. I even played third base in our suburban youth league, just to emulate him. Unfortunately, I couldn't hit a lick, so that's where the comparison ended. Mathews was a hard-nosed individual, who played the game "the right way." Too bad he drank too much and suffered a series of injuries near the end of his career. But he's not the worst character in the Hall of Fame. His later years were marred by marital problems, health issues and contending with what all athletes face when the cheers of the crowd are no longer to be heard. Bob Buege, whose work as a historian of the Milwaukee Braves is to be much admired, largely lets Mathews tell his own story in his own words. This book has had a permanent place on my bookshelf since it was first published, and it was fun to read it once again.