Christy Mathewson

"In the time when Giants walked the earth and roamed the Polo Grounds, none was more honored than Christy Mathewson. Delivering all four of his pitches, including his famous 'fadeaway' (now called a screwball), with impeccable control and an easy motion, the right-handed Mathewson was the greatest pitcher of the Deadball Era's first decade, compiling a 2.13 ERA over 17 seasons and setting modern National League records for wins in a season (37), wins in a career (373), and consecutive 20-win seasons (12). Aside from his pitching achievements, he was the greatest all-around hero of the Deadball Era, a handsome, college-educated man who lifted the rowdy world of baseball to gentlemanliness. Matty was the basis, many say, for the idealized athlete Frank Merriwell, an inspiration to many authors over the years, and the motivation for an Off-Broadway play based on his life and writings. 'He gripped the imagination of a country that held a hundred million people and held this grip with a firmer hold than any man of his day or time,' wrote sportswriter Grantland Rice. ..."
SABR

"Christopher 'Christy' Mathewson (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed 'Big Six', 'The Christian Gentleman', or 'Matty', was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was among the most dominant pitchers of his (or any) era and ranks in the all-time top-10 in major pitching categories such as wins, shutouts, and ERA. In 1936, Mathewson was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its 'first five' inaugural members. Mathewson grew up in Factoryville, Pennsylvania, and he began playing semi-professional baseball when he was 14 years old. He played in the minor leagues in 1899 with a pitching record of 20 wins and two losses. He then started an unsuccessful tenure with the New York Giants the next season but was sent back to the minors. Mathewson would eventually return to the Giants and go on to win 373 games in his career, which is a National League record. In the 1905 World Series, he pitched three shutouts, leading to a Giants victory. ..."
Wikipedia

WHY WE LOST THREE WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIPS By Christy Mathewson. From Everybody's Magazine, October 1914
"I HAVE faced American League teams in four World's Championships. Last fall for the third successive time my team, the New York Giants, was beaten; for the fourth time the National League pennant-winner was beaten. It is significant that New York's lone triumph over an American League pennant-winner was back in 1905. There has been much discussion in recent years, among players, fans, and National League managers, of this point - why all the World's Championships have been won by the American League. And all this has been caused by the annual failure of the Giants. When in 1910 the Chicago Cubs lost the world's title, it did not cause more than usual comment. The Cub machine had aged and fallen to pieces. Dismiss that series in a word - 'has-beens.' But when in 1911 and again in 1912 and 1913 a young and vigorous team like the Giants, a team that had driven roughshod over every club in the National League - when an aggressive combination like ours had seemed almost like a high-school nine beside the American League champions, questions began to be asked. What was the matter? Why did a team that had fought its way to three National League championships invariably blow up in the most important series of the year? ..."
Rain Delay

"Christy Mathewson made headlines in the summer of 1905 for his amazing pitching exploits for the New York Giants, but the 25 year old already had an exalted place in public opinion because of his classic handsomeness, his reputation as a college man, and his moral stance in refusing to pitch on Sundays. Mathewson benefited from a strict Baptist upbringing, natural intelligence, and superb athletic ability. He excelled in tense situations — 'pitching in a pinch' he called it — and won 373 games in 17 seasons, all but one of those victories for the Giants. After his playing career, he was a manager, army officer and baseball executive, played a role in the unraveling of the Black Sox, and fought a courageous battle against tuberculosis. He did not have a flawed personality like Ty Cobb, nor was he larger-than-life like Babe Ruth; rather, he was a man with a keen sense of honor and responsibility for both private and public obligations. This biography documents in great depth his life on and off the baseball field, and draws from sources, old and new, to let Mathewson’s life speak for itself. Not many sports figures can withstand such scrutiny."
amazon: Christy Mathewson by Michael Hartley

YouTube: Christy Mathewson pitching footage, John McGraw and Christy Mathewson