Imagine if the Atlanta Braves traded Chipper Jones moments before his final season of his Hall of Fame career. It feels nearly impossible to consider such a bold move, right? Trading franchise icons is not commonplace in Major League Baseball, and it is especially rare for the Braves' organization. However, on this day 59 years ago such a transaction occurred.
On December 31, 1966 the Atlanta Braves traded future Hall of Famer, and lifelong Brave, Eddie Mathews to the Astros for Dave Nicholson and Bob Bruce. This jarring move ended Mathews 15-year career with the Braves, and soured the end to an illustrious career.
On this day in 1966, the Braves bid adieu to eventual Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews
Eddie Mathews is the only player to have spent time with the Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta Braves. The 12-time All-Star anchored third base for the Braves from 1952-1966. However, Mathews' storied tenure with the Braves apparently was not enough to keep him in Atlanta for the final season of his career. Mathews' amassed 493 home runs, 1,388 RBI, and 94.0 bWAR with the Braves, but this trade meant he would reach an impressive milestone within another organization.
Sadly, Mathews would enter the 500 HR club in an Astros uniform as he finished out his 17-year career with Houston and Detroit. The Braves have made plenty of regretful trades in their organization's history, but trading Mathews hurt more because he did not get to reach that historic milestone with the team he spent so much of his career with.
Nowadays, playing with one organization for an entire career is basically unheard of. Superstars leave in free agency all the time, and some are even traded in their prime. However, when the Clayton Kershaw's, Mariano Riveria's, and Chipper Jones' of the world stick around in one place for an entire Hall of Fame worthy career, you have to appreciate it. The Braves came close to doing the same with a Hall of Fame third baseman well before Chipper's day, but apparently it wasn't meant to be.