Category
|
BA+
|
OBP+
|
SLG+
|
OPS+
|
Mod. wOBA+
|
Mod. wRC+
|
oWAR/650 PAs
|
Rbat/650 PAs
|
Value
|
106.1
|
117.5
|
131.3
|
144.7
|
124.0
|
148.6
|
6.3
|
34.2
|
Eddie Mathews has as good a claim as any for the title of most underrated 500 home run hitter in MLB history (though it's not exactly the most luminous of distinctions). Year after year, he was a lock for at least 30 round-trippers, stringing together a total of nine straight from 1953-1961, and adding on a tenth in 1965. During those thirteen years, he amassed a total of 452 long balls, a historic amount. In addition, he had a .385 OBP, .528 SLG (good for a .913 OPS), and a 150 OPS+, good for third during that timeframe, coming in behind his teammate Hank Aaron (158 OPS+), and NL rival Willie Mays (167 OPS+). Additionally, Mathews also amassed the second-highest Offense WAR and home runs during that period (with 85.8 and 452, respectively), again finishing behind Willie, but ahead of his teammate Aaron. He started off his career about as fast as one reasonably could, logging Mod. wRC+ figures of 171, 174, and 171 from his age 21-23 seasons. He was a star from the outset, and through his first fourteen years, with 477 home runs by the relatively young age of 33, he seemed like almost a sure bet to get to 600 home runs. Alas it did not happen, but as seen below, between his beginning and end of his prime years, Mathews was a force that few had ever seen from such a young player.
When Eddie debuted with the Milwaukee Braves in 1952, he showed quite a bit of promise, but also his youth and inexperience. He led the majors with 115 strikeouts; in a year where the average strikeout rate for National League batters was 11.2%, he fanned 19.4% of the time, 73% above league-average. And while he did hit 25 home runs, he "only" managed a .767 OPS, with a .320 OBP and .447 SLG. It was still a really promising season for a youngster, good for a 113 OPS+ and 114 Mod. wRC+, but it wasn't a fantastically great freshman season with the bat like Mike Trout or Ted Williams had in their inaugural campaigns. However, after that year, Mathews would start a three-year tear that would establish himself as the National League's premier secondary slugger, behind only Willie Mays, and in the process accomplish two things that not even the great Hank Aaron ever would. His 1953 season would be his best, and as you'll see, it could be argued as the greatest year a 21 year-old hitter has ever had in the history of the National League.
To say that Mathews did not suffer a sophomore slump would be one of the biggest understatements in baseball history. In 1953, Mathews went from the promising rookie who fanned like a 1950s Adam Dunn, to a bona-fide slugging superstar. His second year, he led the MLB in home runs, hitting 47. In today's homer-happy age, that's a really good figure, but hardly something historic. However, to put it in proper context, if you take that figure and apply it to the 2019 MLB season, that works out to an astounding 63 round-trippers, so to say that he was dominating in that field would be selling him far short. His BA/OBP/SLG line (referred to from now on as "triple slash line") improved from a merely above average .242/.320/.447 to an MVP-worthy .302/.406/.627, good for a 1.033 OPS, 171 OPS+ (which led the NL), and 171 Mod. wRC+. The man feasted on opposing pitchers, and that year would be the first of three straight seasons with a 170 or greater OPS+, something Hammerin' Hank Aaron never accomplished. In addition, it also started a string of three consecutive seasons with at least 40 home runs, a distinction that Aaron or Mays cannot claim. It would be accurate to say that he was the preeminent power hitter that year, tying Duke Snider for the lead in slugging percentage and placing first in Isolated Power, with a fantastic .325 mark. He finished second in the MVP race that year, and had 8.0 oWAR and 8.1 WAR for the season. It was one of the most amazing age-21 seasons the game has ever seen, and a deep dive into the statistics show it. Among all NL hitter who had seasons with at least 400 plate appearances in their age 21 season, Mathews ranks first in OPS+ at 171, second in WAR at 8.1, first in home runs with 47, first in slugging with .627, and second in OPS at 1.033. In all those categories, he superseded arguably the greatest right-handed NL hitter from the past 80 years: Albert Pujols. In all but one category (WAR), he bested probably the preeminent right-handed hitter of all-time: Rogers Hornsby. It was truly a generational season from a 21 year-old, one that may never be seen again.
1953 was a landmark year for young Eddie, and the next two years, he didn't slow down. In 1954, he hit 40 home runs, and actually raised his OPS+ and Mod. wRC+ to 172 and 174, respectively. His slash line was a fantastic .290/.423/.603, good for a 1.026 OPS. However, this would also be the year that would prove to be foreboding in one unfortunate sense: even with 7.8 WAR that was tied for fourth in the NL, an OPS+ that was second to only Willie Mays, and an On-Base Percentage that was tied for third, he finished a mere 19th in the National League in MVP voting, a trend that would follow him into the 1955 season. Mathews again dominated, capping a three year, 40+ home run streak with 41, slashing .289/.413/.601, good for a 170 OPS+ and 171 Mod. wRC+. He had 7.3 WAR, again placing fourth, and his OPS+ again was only behind Willie. With all those accomplishments, the voters only saw him worthy to take home 18th in the MVP race that year, behind multiple individuals who had far inferior years to him (in all honesty, Mays should have won it that year with a 9.1 WAR). Roy Campanella won with a WAR of 5.2, a great season, but far from MVP-worthy. Clem Labine, a pitcher few know much about, finished three spots ahead of Mathews while sporting a merely average WAR of 2.1, while Pee Wee Reese took home 9th place with just 4.2 WAR. Mathews's highest finish for the rest of his career would be in 1959, when at the age of 27, he would again finish second, this time to Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks. That year, Mathews would slug 46 home runs, again leading the majors, all the while producing a triple slash line of .306/.390/.593, a .983 OPS to go along with a 168 OPS+ (second in the NL behind his teammate Hank Aaron) and 170 Mod. wRC+. He would never again place higher than 10th for the rest of his career.
In the history of organized professional baseball, from 1871-2019, only six players ever hit more home runs than did Eddie Mathews up to their age 33 season. The list is as follows, in order from first to sixth: Alex Rodriguez (583), Jimmie Foxx (519), Sammy Sosa (499), Albert Pujols (492), Ken Griffey Jr. (481), and Hank Aaron (481). Eddie Mathews is seventh, at 477. If you set that mark to through their age 28 season, Mathews comes in at 4th, with 338 homers. It is not hyperbole at all to say that Eddie Mathews was on track to be one of the greatest power hitters in the history of the game; few in league history ever matched his combination of youth and prodigious slugging production. He was a shooting star, a comet that streaked across the night sky at almost incomprehensible speed, and then, in a flash, his prime was gone. His last .500 or better SLG season came at the relatively young age of 29, in 1961, and he never was able to reach a .900 OPS or 150 OPS+ again. His career really began to decline swiftly in 1966, when at the age of 34, his OPS and OPS+ were the worst of his career, sinking below his rookie campaign, with figures of .761 and 108, respectively. He retired as a member of the Detroit Tigers in 1968, the year of the pitcher, where at the age of 36, he was below-average at swinging the bat, with a 98 OPS+ (albeit, in only 57 plate appearances). His last few seasons were a sad way to end a career in which he compiled over 96 WAR, second all-time for third basemen. However, in his prime, there were few better than the kid from Texarkana, TX.
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