Christy Mathewson
Christopher "Christy" Mathewson (
August 12,
1880 –
October 7,
1925) was a right-handed
pitcher in
Major League Baseball.
Born into a wealthy family in
Factoryville,
Pennsylvania, Mathewson attended
Bucknell University, but immediately after graduation signed with the
New York Giants. Extremely intelligent, he was a master player of
American checkers and once defeated the World checkers champion.
The dominant pitcher of his era, Christy Mathewson
won more than 20 games for twelve straight years, including winning 30 or more games for three seasons in a row between
1903 and
1905. In
1908 he won 37 games, a
National League record that still stands. A master craftsman, "Matty" was well known for a screwball-type pitch which was referred to as a "fadeaway", often dominating batters for long periods of time with the pitch. However, Mathewson was certainly not a one-pitch pitcher, as he also had an excellent fastball and changeup, or "slowball" as it was called in Christy's time. While known as a gentleman in a game which at the time was not renowned for its class and style, Mathewson had a great deal of difficulty handling defeat early in his career, sometimes found to be sitting alone and crying after a particularly hard loss, and was considered by a team which was largely well-seasoned and battle hardened to be aloof and self-centered, especially early in his career. It was once said of him that, after a fan had mistaken another Giants player for Mathewson and asked his autograph, the player remarked, "It's a good thing that fella didn't ask Matty for his autograph; Matty would have told him to go fuck himself." Mathewson was allegedly even involved in a scuffle with a fan during one somewhat contentious game. (NY Times game account; to be posted)
While Mathewson was highly intelligent and articulate, and as such a man might seem to gravitate to those of like background, perhaps one of his best friends was a seldom-used backup catcher named Frank Bowerman, a player well-known for his dull intellect and quick temper. Mathewson and his manager,
John McGraw, were also very close, and for a long period of time the Mathewsons and McGraws even shared an apartment.
During his illustrious 17-year career, Mathewson won 373 games, of which 79 were
shutouts, while losing only 188 with an astonishingly low career
ERA of 2.13. He had outstanding control, striking out 2,502 batters while walking only 844. He pitched in four
World Series, his team winning it in 1905 when he won three games by shutout. In
1916 he was traded to the
Cincinnati Reds, where he won the only game he pitched before becoming the team's manager.
His book
Pitching in a Pinch (ghostwritten by
John N. Wheeler) was published in
1912. It is an excellent picture of the baseball of that time, and includes an account of
Fred Merkle's famous baserunning error.
During
World War I, Christy Mathewson enlisted in the
United States Army, serving overseas as a Captain in
1918. He died in
Saranac Lake,
New York at the age of 45, on the opening day of the 1925 World Series, after suffering from
tuberculosis, which was widely considered to be a complication of being exposed to mustard gas during a training exercise. He is buried at Lewisburg Cemetery in
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
His nickname was "Big Six", a reference to a famous New York
fire engine of the time, though it also may have been short for "Big six footer", as Mathewson was considerably more stout than many players of his era. Also at times referred to as "The Christian Gentleman", Mathewson was said to have promised his mother that he would never pitch on Sunday, a promise he managed to keep. Mathewson was raised in a fairly stern Presbyterian home, and was well versed in Scripture. In September 1906 and the first two months of the 1907 season Mathewson's younger brother Henry, also a pitcher, played for the Giants. Henry made three appearances and a single decision, but set a major league record for most walks issued in a major league debut by walking 14. Together the brothers have the major league record for combined wins by brothers playing for the same team: Christy 372, Henry 0.
In
1936, he became one of the first five players admitted to the
Baseball Hall of Fame, along with
Babe Ruth,
Walter Johnson,
Ty Cobb and
Honus Wagner. His jersey, denoted as "NY", was also retired by the Giants; it is posted on the facade of the upper deck in the left field corner of
AT&T Park.
In
1999, he ranked number 7 on
The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking National League pitcher. Later that year, he was elected to the
Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
Christy Mathewson Day is celebrated as a holiday in his hometown of Factoryville, Pennsylvania, on the Saturday closest to his birthday.
Won in the Ninth, R. J. Bodmer Company, 1910.
Pitching in a Pinch, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1912.
The Battle of Base-Ball, Century Company, 1912. (With
C. H. Claudy.)
Pitcher Pollock, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1914. (Illustrated by
Charles M. Relyea.)
Catcher Craig, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1915. (Illustrated by Charles M. Relyea.)
First Base Faulkner, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1916. (Illustrated by Charles M. Relyea.)
Second Base Sloan, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1917. (Illustrated by
E. C. Caswell.)
* The Old Ball Game How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball by
Frank Deford (2005) ISBN 0871138859
* The Head Game by Roger Angell
* Christy Mathewson - A Game-by-Game Profile of a Legendary Pitcher by Ronald A. Mayer
* Matty: An American Hero by Ray Robinson (1993) ISBN 019507629X
Additional sources:
* NY Times Historical Archives
* Personal account, Heywood Hale Broun conversation with C.Riddle [
1] 2000)
*
Baseball Hall of Fame*
Baseball Library*
Baseball Page* http://www.christymathewson.com/
*
Baseball Almanac list of brothers
