Christy Mathewson

Christy Mathewson

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 was born in Factoryville, Pennsylvania, and began playing semi-professional baseball when he was 14 years old. He began playing in the minor leagues in 1899 and had a pitching record of 20 wins and two losses. He began an unsuccessful tenure with the New York Giants the next season and 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, Mathewson pitched three shutouts in the Giants victory. Throughout his career, Mathewson would not pitch on Sundays due to his Christian beliefs. The pitcher also played professional football for the Pittsburgh Stars for a short period of time before quitting. Mathewson served in World War I and died in Saranac Lake, New York, of tuberculosis in 1925.