View Full Version : Mathews an underrated runner?
The Commissioner
07-19-2007, 09:10 PM
I've never heard anything said about Eddie Mathews' baserunning abilities, but I was just glancing over his stats and noticed some interesting things. First of all the guy had 72 career ML triples. That's a heck of a lot for anybody in the liveball era. You don't get 72 triples without some modicum of speed. He also was in the top ten three times in this category. Then I noticed that he was in the top ten in steals twice. How come we never hear much about him on the basepaths? Was Eddie underrated?
hartman74
07-19-2007, 09:33 PM
Maybe it was because Eddie Matthews was more known for his 512 HRs overshadowed his triples and stolen bases.
Same thing for Hank Aaron, he's the Home Run leader with 755. People also do not know that he is the alltime RBI king with 2297.
When your known at one thing people forget all the others.
The Commissioner
07-19-2007, 09:45 PM
True enough, but people do remember Aaron as a great all-around ballplayer. With Mathews, it seems like people's memories are more one dimensional. at best, they seem to remember teh homeruns and that he turned himself into a good fielding third baseman after struggling at first, but I've never heard anythig about his all-around play.
I've never heard anything said about Eddie Mathews' baserunning abilities, but I was just glancing over his stats and noticed some interesting things. First of all the guy had 72 career ML triples. That's a heck of a lot for anybody in the liveball era. You don't get 72 triples without some modicum of speed. He also was in the top ten three times in this category. Then I noticed that he was in the top ten in steals twice. How come we never hear much about him on the basepaths? Was Eddie underrated?
I was able to watch many of Eddie's games (age 11 through early twenties) and I can assure you that there were not a lot of players that had the speed that he had. Timed at 3.7, 3.8 consistantly going to 1st base. As a ball player I watched him very closely because I wanted to be just like him. Mathews was at his best in going from 1st to 3rd when most players would be content with 2nd. He ALWAYS ran hard, never dogged it in any running situation. The players/managers of his day knew how fast he was. He definitely is under rated by those who never had the priviledge of watching him run.