[스크랩] [야구] Christy Mathewson (1880 - 1925)

Christy Mathewson

 

 

 

[Stats]

ERA  Wins  Loses  Saves  Games  IP         Hits   Runs  ER     Walks    K
2.13  373    188     28       635    4780.2  4218  1616  1133  844       2502

 

 

[Biography]

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 to (expletive deleted)."

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 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.

 

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