TEXARKANA, Texas – The city of Texarkana, Texas, dedicated its first local memorial marker at Swanger Baseball Complex on Saturday.
The marker honors Major League Baseball player Eddie Matthews, who was born in 1931 and is the only player from Texarkana inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Third baseman Matthews is credited with becoming the seventh player in major league history to hit 500 home runs, hit 30 or more homers nine years in a row and have five seasons of 100 or more runs batted in.
The U12 Texarkana Naturals baseball team raised the money for the historical marker.
“As important as these markers are to remind us about our local history and how it’s tied to regional, state and national history, is to remind us that the people that came here before us, they saw value in the land, they saw the potential in the community that was here,” said Solomon. “And, now, their legacy is on our shoulders to continue to achieve their vision for what this community could be as much as they are about reminding us about what happened; they’re there to remind us about who we are and what our future looks like.”