This Day in Braves History: Eddie Mathews gets elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

The star third baseman receives his proper recognition for a fantastic career

Braves Franchise History

1943: The Boston Braves release veteran outfielders Paul Waner and Johnny Cooney.

1978: Eddie Mathews is elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA. The former Atlanta Braves third baseman is named on 301 of 379 ballots.

2021: Hall of Famer Don Sutton, a 300-game winner, passes away at age 75, as the wave of deaths among playing greats of the 1970s continues unabated. Sutton is the ninth member of Cooperstown to pass away over a 12-month period.

MLB History

1934: Commissioner Landis denies Shoeless Joe Jackson’s appeal for reinstatement.

1937: The BBWAA elected Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker and Cy Young to the Hall of Fame.

1945: Media reports say that Stan Musial will enlist in the U.S. military for duty in World War II. Musial missed the entire 1945 season before returning to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1946.

1972: Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra and Early Wynn are elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA. Koufax was elected on his first ballot and is the youngest honoree in history at age 36.

1977: Ernie Banks is elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

1983: Ozzie Smith becomes the first $1-million shortstop in major league baseball, signing a three-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

1994: Major League owners amend the major league agreement and give complete power to the Commissioner on labor negotiations. Bud Selig will continue to act as interim commissioner.

1995: Orioles owner Peter Angelos announces that his team will not use replacement players if the strike is not settled before Opening Day.

2016: In settling a class action lawsuit filed by fans, Major League Baseball announces changes to its policy regarding the streaming of live games over the internet on MLB.TV. Fans will now be able to buy a package that covers their favorite team and that allows them to circumvent local blackouts, while the cost of the league-wide full package will be reduced by 15%. However, the settlement does not cover certain regional networks not owned by DirecTV, MLB’s principal broadcasting partner. The suit was filed because, while MLB.TV promised subscribers that they could watch all MLB games lives, local blackouts meant that, fans who bought the package were often unable to follow the games of their local teams, a frustrating situation in markets where the local cable sports network is either not made available by every provider or is part of an expensive premium package.

2017: The Orioles agree to a three-year contract to re-sign Mark Trumbo, the reigning American League home run champion, pending a physical. The contract is for $37.5 million, a relative bargain as Trumbo’s value was depressed by several other right-handed sluggers being concurrently on the market.