ESPN Network: ESPN.com | NBA.com | NHL.com | WNBA.com | ABCSports | EXPN | INSIDER | FANTASY   

ALSO SEE
Remembering Eddie Mathews

Eddie Mathews' career statistics

Mathews' career highlights





Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Quotable Eddie Mathews


  • "I'd take on the other third baseman ... I wanted to beat him in every department, fielding, hitting, runing the bases. I played that game all my life, and it kept me on my toes."

  • "I'm just a beat-up old third baseman. I'm just a small part of a wonderful game that is a tremendous part of America today."
    --on his induction into the Hall of Fame, August 7, 1978

  • "My mother used to pitch to me and my father would shag balls. If I hit one up the middle, close to mother, I'd have some extra chores to do. My mother was instrumental in making me a pull hitter."
    --on his induction into the Hall of Fame, August 7, 1978

  • "It's only a hitch when you're in a slump. When you're hittin' the ball, it's called rhythm."

  • "When you're a kid, what fun the game is! You grab a bat and glove and ball, and that's it. I know what Ted Williams and Stan Musial meant when they said it got tougher to get in shape every year."

  • "I didn't like being a salesman. I wasn't a closer. I'd go in and talk baseball for half an hour and walk out without mentioning my product."
    --on life after baseball

  • "I don't know where Hank Aaron will break Ruth's record, but I can tell you one thing. Ten years from the day he hits it, three million people will say they were there."
    --1973





    Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories