Eddie Mathews was the only player to play for the Braves in the 3 cities they've called home—Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. Mathews was also an all-time great third baseman, a Hall of Famer who finished his career with 512 home runs.
In 1954, Mathews was considered one of the game's superstars and was featured on the first-ever cover of Sports Illustrated—the once-iconic weekly magazine.
"I've only known three or four perfect swings in my time," Ty Cobb said of Eddie Mathews. "This lad has one of them."
The now-banned "shift" was regularly employed against the pull-heavy Mathews, who delighted in "beating the shift."
History has since overshadowed Mathews in many ways. Rightfully so, perhaps. After all, his teammate was Hank Aaron, generally considered one of the top 5 to 10 players ever.
As teammates with the Braves from 1954-1966, Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews hit 863 combined homers, eclipsing the mark of 772 that Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth set when they played together on the Yankees.
The Braves won the World Series in 1957, beating the New York Yankees, and lost the Fall Classic to the Yankees the following season.
Charlie Grimm, the Braves manager during the early parts of the careers of both Mathews and Aaron, once said, "Ty Cobb claims that Aaron is one of the best young ballplayers he has seen in many years."
What did Cobb like so much about Aaron?
"What I like about that kid is his hitting," the Georgia Peach told Grimm. "The first time I looked at him, I said, 'There's a great hitter,' because of his mannerisms at the plate."
Those mannerisms paid off. Aaron hit his 715th home run on April 8, 1974, passing Babe Ruth as the top slugger of all-time. Eddie Mathews was on the top step of the Braves dugout that day … managing the Braves.
Teammates.
Later that summer, the Braves—only one game over .500 and mired in 4th place in the division—fired Mathews.
A few years prior, Mathews had taken a young slugger under his wing in the form of third baseman Darrell Evans. This protégé, who would eventually hit 414 career taters himself, praised Mathews for his coaching. "Eddie was not only my manager, he was my friend. He used to talk to me, pump into me that I had to do it."
Naturally, Evans criticized the Braves for firing his friend. Aaron said the decision to fire Mathews was "a blow to me."
The next season, Aaron was back in Milwaukee, playing for the AL's Brewers. Evans left Atlanta in 1976 and went to the San Francisco Giants. He is now a member of that organization's Wall of Fame.
After a stellar career and winning a World Series as a key member of the Detroit Tigers in 1984, Evans returned to the Braves for one final season in 1989.
Aaron's career ended after the 1976 season. Starting that offseason, he began working in the Braves front office and continued in various executive roles until his passing, at age 86, in January 2021.
Point is, loyalty matters. Sometimes one party or another screws things up, but the damage should never be irreversible.
Loyalty is often earned by teamwork.
If the foundation of the team is shaky, loyalty is unlikely. However, if the infrastructure within a team is solid, a commitment and an allegiance to one's teammates will typically ensue.
Well… we're creating a "team" within my Inner Sphere program. The program's "first pitch" is later this week with a few of our founding associates.
It's about teamwork and helping others achieve their own goals.
Teamwork can be described as the willingness to work together toward a common mission and purpose.
Teamwork is also the fuel that allows common folk to attain uncommon results.
If achieving your goals interests you, there may be a spot within the Sphere available. We literally have room for one more person, though we can also operate fine without anyone new.
Things will change—as in open up—as we roll along into summer.
It's not quite "glory's last shot"—even the PGA screwed that up—but if there's not any immediate availability, hop on our waiting list.
The link to sign up…
https://briandoleary.lpages.co/innersphere/
As always,
Brian
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