While his power is often compared to that of contemporary Mickey Mantle, Eddie Mathews’ swing was thought by many to be the purest ever seen in baseball. From 1952 to 1968 Eddie Mathews was the bane of every National League pitcher, his number “41” striking fear into every moundsman who had the misfortune to face him. Besides clubbing over 500 home runs in his career, Mathews was paired throughout most of his career with the other great National League home run hitter of the 1950s and 1960s, Hank Aaron. Together the two hit 863 home runs together, more than even Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig did during their time as teammates.

Besides Mathews frightening power with a bat in his hands, the Braves slugger was also the undefeated toughguy of the National League, always ready to back-up his teammates with his fists, especially during the vicious beanball wars with the Dodgers in the 1950s. On top of his batting and fighting prowess, Mathews is also the answer to the popular trivia question of “Who is the only player to appear with the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta?” as he began his career with Boston in 1952 and left the club a year after they moved to Atlanta.

This offered bat straddled his time in Milwaukee and Atlanta, 1965 and 1966. During the two seasons this bat is attributed to, Mathews added 48 home runs to his eventual tally of 512. The Hillerich & Bradsby S2 model bat is un-cracked and shows outstanding use. Many ball marks with stitch impressions are found on the right and back barrel. The ball marks include ink transfers and several deep cleat imprints can be seen on the left and back barrel. There is some scarring to the bat’s finish visible on the upper handle to the left of the center brand and also on the lower handle approximately 6 ½ inches from the knob. The model number “S2” is stamped into the knob end and Mathews’ feared number “41” has been handwritten in black marker. To complete this Mathews Milwaukee-Atlanta gamer, the Hall of Famer has signed the barrel in strong black marker. The bat comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (1B14749) for the game use and has been graded a near-perfect GU 9.5, plus a LOA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication (A56155) for the signature.