Matty

Christy Mathewson

Yes, that is the third nickname for Christy Mathewson, the legendary proponent of the fadeaway in the early part of last century. Perhaps no other pitcher in the history of the game has such a recognizable name, to fans and non-fans alike.

A little-known fact about Mathewson is that he played professional football briefly for the Pittsburgh Stars in 1902, the only year of the team's existence.

In 1905, he turned in possibly the greatest World Series performance by a pitcher. In the span of just six days, he pitched three complete-game shutouts, allowing only 14 hits, as the Giants defeated the Philadelphia Athletics.

Familiar with jubilant times on the field, off the field Mathewson was also acquainted with grief. He had three brothers, and all died before he did: one died as an infant, Nicholas committed suicide in 1909 at age 19, and Henry died of tuberculosis in 1917.

Christy Mathewson Day is celebrated in his hometown of Factoryville, Pennsylvania, every year on the Saturday closest to his birthday. At Bucknell, his alma mater, the football stadium is named in his honor, as are the baseball fields at Keystone College (in Factoryville) and in Taunton, Massachusetts, where Matty played before joining the Giants.

He has also been widely celebrated in poetry, prose, and song. Ogden Nash wrote in 1943:

M is for Matty,

who carried a charm

in the form of an extra

brain in his arm. 

August

Who is this "Christian gentleman"?

I was born Aug. 12, 1880, in Factoryville, Pennsylvania, and started playing semi-pro baseball when I was 14.

I attended Bucknell University, where I was the Big Man on Campus, playing baseball and football and also serving as class president.

During my 17-year career in the majors (16 with the N.Y. Giants and one with the Reds), I won 373 games (still a National League record), had a career E.R.A. of 2.13, and posted 79 shutouts.

My out pitch was called a "fadeaway," which today we call a screwball. My manager, John McGraw, gave me high praise when he said I knew "as much about hitters as [he did]."

I had three nicknames: "Big Six," "the Christian Gentleman" (I never pitched on Sundays), and ... well, I can't tell you the third because it would give me away.

I retired as a player in 1916 and, two years later, during WWI, I enlisted in the army and was sent overseas. During a training exercise, I was accidentally exposed to poison gas and later developed tuberculosis.

I died on Oct. 7, 1925, in Saranac Lake, New York, at age 45.

I was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1936 as one of the famous "First Five," along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Walter Johnson. I was the only one of the five not there.