Eddie Mathews

Third Baseman · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1952-1968)

⭐ Hall of Fame 1978
AVG .271
HR 512
RBI 1,453
H 2,315
OPS .885
PIV 45,555
Position
Third Baseman
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 190 lb
Born
10/13/1931 in Texarkana, TX, USA
Died
2/18/2001 in La Jolla, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1952-04-15
Last Game
1968-09-27
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1978 (BBWAA)
Awards
9× All-Star

Full name: Edwin Lee Mathews

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
2,391 8,537 1,509 2,315 354 72 512 1,453 68 1,444 1,487 .271 .376 .509 .885 45,555

Career AVG .271 vs. league average .253 across their career seasons — +7.3% above league average.

Career OBP .376 vs. league average .320 across their career seasons — +17.5% above league average.

Career SLG .509 vs. league average .381 across their career seasons — +33.6% above league average.

Career OPS .885 vs. league average .701 across their career seasons — +26.3% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1952 BSN NL 145 528 80 128 23 5 25 58 6 59 115 .242 .252 (-4%) .326 (-2%) .369 (+21%) .696 (+10%) 915.0
1953 ML1 NL 157 579 110 175 31 8 47 135 1 99 83 .302 .264 (+14%) .335 (+21%) .397 (+58%) .733 (+41%) 5021.2
1954 ML1 NL 138 476 96 138 21 4 40 103 10 113 61 .290 .261 (+11%) .333 (+27%) .390 (+55%) .723 (+42%) 4384.8
1955 ML1 NL 141 499 108 144 23 5 41 101 3 109 98 .289 .258 (+12%) .332 (+24%) .393 (+53%) .726 (+40%) 4291.2
1956 ML1 NL 151 552 103 150 21 2 37 95 6 91 86 .272 .258 (+5%) .331 (+13%) .397 (+30%) .728 (+22%) 2690.7
1957 ML1 NL 148 572 109 167 28 9 32 94 3 90 79 .292 .257 (+13%) .323 (+19%) .391 (+38%) .715 (+30%) 3569.2
1958 ML1 NL 149 546 97 137 18 1 31 77 5 85 85 .251 .257 (-3%) .324 (+8%) .394 (+16%) .719 (+12%) 1480.0
1959 ML1 NL 148 594 118 182 16 8 46 114 2 80 71 .306 .256 (+19%) .323 (+20%) .392 (+51%) .715 (+37%) 4550.2
1960 ML1 NL 153 548 108 152 19 7 39 124 7 111 113 .277 .255 (+9%) .323 (+23%) .387 (+42%) .711 (+33%) 4010.1
1961 ML1 NL 152 572 103 175 23 6 32 91 12 93 95 .306 .258 (+18%) .328 (+23%) .399 (+34%) .727 (+29%) 3615.3
1962 ML1 NL 152 536 106 142 25 6 29 90 4 101 90 .265 .257 (+3%) .326 (+17%) .393 (+26%) .719 (+22%) 2625.1
1963 ML1 NL 158 547 82 144 27 4 23 84 3 124 119 .263 .246 (+7%) .308 (+29%) .371 (+22%) .680 (+25%) 3294.8
1964 ML1 NL 141 502 83 117 19 1 23 74 2 85 100 .233 .250 (-7%) .312 (+10%) .377 (+9%) .690 (+10%) 1167.1
1965 ML1 NL 156 546 77 137 23 0 32 95 1 73 110 .251 .245 (+2%) .310 (+10%) .371 (+26%) .682 (+19%) 2061.3
1966 ATL NL 134 452 72 113 21 4 16 53 1 63 82 .250 .248 (+1%) .309 (+10%) .376 (+12%) .685 (+11%) 1061.0
1967 HOU NL 101 328 39 78 13 2 10 38 2 48 65 .238 .242 (-2%) .306 (+9%) .357 (+7%) .663 (+8%) 527.5
1967 DET AL 36 108 14 25 3 0 6 19 0 15 23 .231 .242 (-4%) .306 (+8%) .357 (+19%) .663 (+14%) 527.5
1968 DET AL 31 52 4 11 0 0 3 8 0 5 12 .212 .236 (-11%) .298 (-6%) .340 (+13%) .638 (+4%) 31.7
Career · 18 seasons 2,391 8,537 1,509 2,315 354 72 512 1,453 68 1,444 1,487 .271 — — — — 45,824

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
16 50 7 10 5 0 1 7 15 17 .200

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1968 WS DET 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .333
1958 WS ML1 7 25 3 4 2 0 0 3 6 11 .160
1957 WS ML1 7 22 4 5 3 0 1 4 8 5 .227

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2389 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home117840846971081238666.265
Away121144458101232273787.277

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1968-09-27 DETTEXL 100000000
1968-09-23 DETBALL 101000000
1968-09-22 DETTEXL 100000000
1968-09-21 DETTEXW 401000101
1968-09-19 DETNYYW 201000110
1968-09-08 DETMINL 401000001
1968-09-03 DETOAKW 000000010
1968-09-02 DETOAKW 200000000
1968-09-02 DETOAKL 100000001
1968-06-05 DETBOSW 101000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 112 100 833 62 12 75
3B 2181 1843 2049 4322 293 369
OF 52 52 84 1 8 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1952 BSN 3B 142 0 160 259 19 21
1953 ML1 3B 157 0 154 311 30 33
1954 ML1 3B 127 126 112 254 13 28
1954 ML1 OF 10 10 21 0 2 0
1955 ML1 3B 137 137 140 280 21 23
1956 ML1 3B 150 149 133 287 25 22
1957 ML1 3B 147 147 131 299 16 27
1958 ML1 3B 149 149 116 351 22 24
1959 ML1 3B 148 148 144 305 18 21
1960 ML1 3B 153 153 141 280 22 23
1961 ML1 3B 151 151 168 281 18 30
1962 ML1 1B 7 7 67 2 0 7
1962 ML1 3B 140 140 141 283 16 22
1963 ML1 3B 121 115 113 276 13 23
1963 ML1 OF 42 42 63 1 6 0
1964 ML1 1B 7 7 54 5 2 4
1964 ML1 3B 128 123 130 247 15 19
1965 ML1 3B 153 146 113 301 19 19
1966 ATL 3B 127 115 114 237 20 31
1967 HOU 1B 79 68 572 40 8 50
1967 HOU 3B 24 20 22 33 3 3
1967 DET 1B 13 12 106 12 1 9
1967 DET 3B 21 19 14 28 3 0
1968 DET 1B 6 6 34 3 1 5
1968 DET 3B 6 5 3 10 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
First Base 112
Third Base 2180
Left Field 52

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1960 TSN All-Star 3B
1959 TSN All-Star 3B
1957 TSN All-Star 3B
1955 TSN All-Star 3B

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1965 Most Valuable Player NL 20th 8.0 280 0
1962 Most Valuable Player NL 29th 1.0 280 0
1961 Most Valuable Player NL 17th 7.0 224 0
1960 Most Valuable Player NL 10th 52.0 336 0
1959 Most Valuable Player NL 2nd 189.0 336 5
1957 Most Valuable Player NL 8th 45.0 336 0
1955 Most Valuable Player NL 18th 6.0 336 0
1954 Most Valuable Player NL 19th 5.0 336 0
1953 Most Valuable Player NL 2nd 216.0 336 3
1952 Most Valuable Player NL 21th 13.0 336 0
1952 Rookie of the Year NL 3rd 1.0 24 1

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Eddie Mathews (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Willie McCovey HOF
    .270 avg, 521 HR
  2. 74
    Mike Schmidt HOF
    .267 avg, 548 HR
  3. 67
    Fred McGriff HOF
    .284 avg, 493 HR
  4. 62
    Harmon Killebrew HOF
    .256 avg, 573 HR
  5. 47
    Jason Giambi
    .277 avg, 440 HR
  6. 39
    Carlos Delgado
    .280 avg, 473 HR

Compare Eddie Mathews

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Mathews's closest peers by position and era.

vs Hank Aaron
vs Warren Spahn
vs Mike Schmidt
vs Chipper Jones
vs George Brett
vs Wade Boggs

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See Eddie Mathews in Another Era

What would Mathews's 1953 season look like in a different era's run environment? Try the cross-era translation with a live slider.

Translate Eddie Mathews's peak season across eras →

Frequently Asked Questions about Eddie Mathews

What years did Eddie Mathews play?
Eddie Mathews played in Major League Baseball from 1952 to 1968.
Was Eddie Mathews a pitcher?
No. Eddie Mathews was a position player (Third Baseman).
How many home runs did Eddie Mathews hit?
Eddie Mathews hit 512 career home runs with 2315 hits.
Is Eddie Mathews in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Eddie Mathews was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978.