He will always be remembered for three things: being traded to Houston in the infamous Rusty Staub trade, being traded to Cincinnati as part of the infamous Joe Morgan trade, and serving up Hank Aaron's record-tying 714th home run in 1974.

A distant cousin of legendary pitcher Christy Mathewson, he helped the Big Red Machine reach the playoffs four times, and was 2-0 in three World Series with an 0.36 ERA.

He retired in 1980, entering the sporting goods business. In 1999, he coached for the Kissimmee Cobras of the Florida State League, an Astros farm team.

Sources:

• Total Baseball, Seventh Edition, Thorn, Palmer, et al.
• Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia, Pietrusza, Silverman, Gershman, eds.