Christy Mathewson

[Baseball Guru]

Christy Mathewson was a college man, sang in the glee club, belonged to a literary society, served as a model of clean living, and
mowed down opposing hitters in his spare time. In a time where baseball was known for hard-living, hard-drinking baseball players,
there was Christy Mathewson. He was the role model after whom every parent wanted their children to model their lives.

The dominant pitcher of his era and one of five all-time greats originally inducted into the Hall of Fame, Mathewson looked like the
classic American hero: tall, blond, and blue-eyed, with a reputation for clean living and good sportsmanship that was often held up
as a splendid example for the nation's youth. While those virtues were surely exaggerated, his pitching skills were not. He retired
with 372 wins (fourth all-time), 78 shutouts (third), and a 2.13 ERA (fifth).

The son of a gentleman farmer, Mathewson attended Bucknell University, where he was class president, an excellent field goal
kicker, and, of course, star pitcher. Leaving Bucknell in 1899 to pitch for Taunton (New England League), he advanced to Norfolk
(Virginia League) the following year and went 20-2. The Giants bought him for $1,500, but returned him to Norfolk when he lost his
first three decisions, declaring the deal cancelled and demanding their money back. He was then drafted by the Reds for $100 and
traded to the Giants for sore-armed Amos Rusie, who had not pitched since 1898. Reds' owner John T. Bush was about to buy the
Giants and wanted a promising pitcher when he got there.

In 1901 Mathewson won 20 games with a 2.41 ERA for the Giants, but manager Horace Fogel still did not believe his young star
would win consistently, and had him practice at first, shortstop, and in the outfield. John McGraw arrived in mid-1902 to quickly put a
stop to such experiments, and from 1903 to 1914 Mathewson never won fewer than 22 games.

Mathewson's pitching was marked by intelligence, good mechanics, and outstanding control (he walked only 1.6 batters per nine
innings), but he also had a magic pitch. Today's screwball, he called it his "fadeaway," a reverse curve that broke in to righthanded
batters. Thrown with an extremely unnatural twist of the arm, he rarely threw more than a dozen a game, but the threat was always
there. Combined with his other outstanding pitches, it made him one of baseball's rare masters. He could breeze through a game on
75 or 80 pitches, often holding something back for what he called "pitching in a pinch" (the name of his book).

Mathewson was only 14-17 in his second full season, but led the NL with eight shutouts and posted a fine 2.11 ERA. The following
year he won 30 games and led the league in strikeouts, feats he would repeat in 1904 and 1905. In the 1905 World Series, Matty
turned in one of baseball's best postseason performances, shutting out the Athletics in Games One, Three, and Five, allowing only 14
total hits, as the Giants took the Series 4-1. In 1906-07 Christy's brother Henry pitched three games for the Giants, going 0-1; until
Gaylord and Jim Perry broke their record, Christy and Henry held the record for wins by brothers.

Mathewson's finest regular season was 1908, as he led the league in wins (37), ERA (1.43), strikeouts (259), and shutouts (12), but
the Giants finished a game behind the Cubs. Between 1911 and 1914 Mathewson won 98 games to young Grover Alexander's 96,
but when Matty slipped to 8-14 in 1915 Alexander won 31, and the mantle of the league's best pitcher was passed. In 1916 he was
traded to the Reds, where he won the one game he pitched before leading them to two fourth-place finishes as manager. When he
retired, Matty had won the ERA title and the strikeout crown five times each and had led the NL in wins and shutouts four times each.


Off the field, public reputation aside, some found him brusque and stand-offish, others said he had a swelled head. He was also
known to break a contract, once signing with the Philadelphia Athletics before changing his mind and jumping back to the Giants.
Still, he lent considerable prestige to the players' unionizing efforts in 1912, and while managing once suspended Hal Chase for
"indifferent playing." He was also one of the few to publicly state he thought the White Sox were throwing the 1919 WS.

Enlisting as an Army captain in 1918, he served overseas and was gased in a training exercise, thereafter suffering from
tuberculosis. He coached with the Giants in 1919-20, but spent much of his time upstate, fighting TB. He served as part-time
president of the Braves in 1923, and died two years later at the age of 47.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
*He was the dominant pitcher during the first two decades of the 1900's.

*His 373 career wins is third on the all-time list.

*He had a career-winning percentage of .665 which is sixth best of all time.

*His career ERA was 2.13, which is fifth best of all time.

*During his 17 year career, he led the league in ERA five times.

*From 1907 to 1911, his ERA was under a 2.00.

*In 15 full seasons of pitching, his ERA was above a 3.00 only once.

*He led the league in wins four times, in strikeouts five times, and in shutouts four times.

*He won 20 games 13 times and 30 games 4 times.

*He won at least 20 games for 12 consecutive years (1903-1914).

*He is third on the all-time list for shutouts with 80.

*His best season was in 1908 when he led the league in wins (37), ERAs (1.43), games pitched (56), games started (44), complete
games (34), innings pitched (390.2), strikeouts (259), and shutouts (12).


QUOTES

"You can learn little from victory. You can learn everything from defeat."
...Christy Mathewson

"You must have an alibi to show why you lost. If you haven’t one, you must fake one. Your self-confidence must be maintained."
...Christy Mathewson

"Matty was the greatest pitcher of all time.’"
...Roger Bresnahan, teammate

"It was wonderful to watch him pitch when he wasn’t pitching against you."
...Connie Mack

"Christy Mathewson brought something to baseball no one else had ever given the game. He handed the game a certain touch of
class, an indefinable lift in culture, brains, and personality.’"
...Grantland Rice

CAREER STATS
W-373