Mathewson was born in 1880 in Factoryville, Pennsylvania, where he excelled at sports at a young age due to his size; the other children called him “Husk.” He started pitching for a local semiprofessional baseball team when he was only 14 years old. He also played other sports; he was even a star fullback and punter while attending Bucknell University. After college, he had a brief stint in professional football, but he would end up following his true passion—baseball.
Mathewson signed up to play for the New York Giants a month before he turned 20. His career got off to a rocky start with poor performance during his first season, and he was sent back to the minor leagues. He returned to the Giants and soon became a fan favorite.
Fans in New York adored Mathewson and affectionately labeled him “The Christian Gentleman” because of his devout faith. He demonstrated that in his career.
In a day when baseball players were known to be rough-and-tumble men who frequented saloons, Mathewson did not. He was known to travel with a Bible. Newspapers wrote that he never swore, drank, or gambled. Mathewson promised his mother that he would never pitch on Sundays, a promise he kept throughout his career.
Baseball fans were also impressed by his superior intellect. Mathewson was a straight-A student in college, and he enjoyed playing bridge and checkers. He could play multiple checkers games at one time, and even defeat opponents while blindfolded.
Star Athlete and More
Throughout his 17 seasons with the Giants, Mathewson would improve in his skills to the point where he broke several pitching records. The climax in his career came when he pitched three shutouts in the 1905 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics to snag the championship. Still to this day, a single pitcher has not taken home the world championship with such an impressive feat.
During his baseball career, Mathewson also decided he wanted to expand his skills to writing and acting. In 1912, Mathewson published his first book called “Pitching in a Pinch” with the help of sportswriter John Wheeler.
In his personal memoir, Mathewson vividly describes his life story, starting with telling readers about which batters were the toughest for him to pitch to and why. He also goes into the psychology of baseball and how banter between the pitcher and batter can change the game. However, he informs readers that he preferred not to talk to batters because it would sometimes affect him as much mentally as it would the player at bat.
His book “Pitching in a Pinch” highlighted his honesty and integrity when he described why it is essential in the sport to have trust in the umpires, even though players aren’t always pleased by their calls: “The future of the game depends on the umpire, for his honesty must not be questioned.”
Mathewson wrote: “If there is a breath of suspicion against a man, he is immediately let go, because constant repetition of such a charge would result in baseball going the way of horse racing and some other sports. No scandal can creep in where the umpire is concerned, for the very popularity of baseball depends on its honesty.”
Mathewson stepped away from the pitching mound in 1917, when he became a manager for the Cincinnati Reds. It turned out that his manager career would be short-lived. His honesty would come back into play once again when he suspended player Hal Chase for illegally rigging games. However, when it came time for Chase to appear in court, Mathewson was unable to testify as he was overseas fighting in World War I. He was shipped to France as part of the Chemical Warfare Division, where he was accidentally gassed during a training exercise.
In the meantime, Chase was exonerated, but Mathewson’s whistleblowing helped journalist Hugh Fullerton expose the 1919 World Series scandal.
Mathewson succumbed to severe damage to his lungs and was diagnosed with tuberculosis when he returned home. The famous baseball star attempted to revive his career as a manager, but his cough prevented him from doing the work.
His lifelong achievements were recognized when he was one of the first five legends of the sport who were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.
Christy Mathewson’s remarkable achievements in baseball do not overshadow the fact that he was first and foremost a true “Christian Gentleman.”
