Christy Mathewson Marquee Hall of Fame 1936

b. August 12, 1880 · New York Giants 1900–1916, Cincinnati Reds 1916, Cincinnati Reds

Christy Mathewson won 373 games with a 2.13 earned run average and 79 shutouts across 17 seasons, nearly all for the New York Giants. In the 1905 World Series he pitched three complete-game shutouts in six days, which remains the best single postseason any pitcher has had.

He was college-educated, did not pitch on Sundays, and was held up as evidence that the sport could be respectable — a role he seems to have found tiresome. He led the league in wins four times and in strikeouts five, and threw a screwball he called a fadeaway.

He enlisted in 1918 and was accidentally exposed to poison gas during chemical warfare training in France. It left him with damaged lungs, tuberculosis followed, and he died in 1925 at 45, on the morning of a World Series game. He was in the Hall of Fame's first class the following decade.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
Baseball Magazine All-Star	7	1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914
Triple Crown (pitching)	2	1905, 1908

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1900	NYG	6	11	1	2	2	0	0	1	1	2	0	.182
1901	NYG	42	130	10	28	0	1	0	7	2	25	1	.215
1902	NYG	43	130	10	26	3	0	2	12	6	16	2	.200
1903	NYG	45	124	13	28	3	0	1	20	8	14	1	.226
1904	NYG	48	133	15	30	5	3	0	17	9	26	3	.226
1905	NYG	44	127	13	30	5	0	2	16	10	12	2	.236
1906	NYG	38	91	6	24	4	1	0	14	9	16	0	.264
1907	NYG	41	107	8	20	3	1	0	7	5	12	1	.187
1908	NYG	56	129	11	20	2	2	0	11	9	12	0	.155
1909	NYG	37	95	9	25	4	1	1	12	4	9	0	.263
1910	NYG	38	107	9	25	5	1	1	10	12	13	1	.234
1911	NYG	45	112	12	22	2	0	0	12	5	13	2	.196
1912	NYG	43	110	14	29	4	1	0	10	6	8	2	.264
1913	NYG	40	103	7	19	0	0	0	9	8	13	1	.184
1914	NYG	41	105	8	23	3	1	0	4	11	12	4	.219
1915	NYG	27	51	3	8	4	0	0	1	7	11	0	.157
1916	CIN/NYG	13	22	2	3	1	0	0	2	4	4	0	.136
Career	—	647	1687	151	362	50	12	7	165	116	218	20	.215

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1900	NYG	0	3	6	1	0	33.2	37	19	20	15	5.08
1901	NYG	20	17	40	38	0	336.0	288	90	97	221	2.41
1902	NYG	14	17	35	33	0	284.2	246	67	77	164	2.12
1903	NYG	30	13	45	42	2	366.1	321	92	100	267	2.26
1904	NYG	33	12	48	46	1	367.2	306	83	78	212	2.03
1905	NYG	31	9	43	37	3	338.2	252	48	64	206	1.28
1906	NYG	22	12	38	35	1	266.2	262	88	77	128	2.97
1907	NYG	24	12	41	36	2	315.0	250	70	53	178	2.00
1908	NYG	37	11	56	44	5	390.2	281	62	42	259	1.43
1909	NYG	25	6	37	33	2	275.1	192	35	36	149	1.14
1910	NYG	27	9	38	35	0	318.1	292	67	60	184	1.89
1911	NYG	26	13	45	37	3	307.0	303	68	38	141	1.99
1912	NYG	23	12	43	34	4	310.0	311	73	34	134	2.12
1913	NYG	25	11	40	35	2	306.0	291	70	21	93	2.06
1914	NYG	24	13	41	35	2	312.0	314	104	23	80	3.00
1915	NYG	8	14	27	24	0	186.0	199	74	20	57	3.58
1916	CIN/NYG	4	4	13	7	2	74.2	74	25	8	19	3.01
Career	—	373	188	636	552	29	4788.2	4219	1135	848	2507	2.13

On this day & linked events

1880

Born August 12, 1880

Factoryville, PA, USA

1925

Died October 7, 1925

1900

Major-league debut: Christy Mathewson

Christy Mathewson made a major-league debut on July 17, 1900.

1901

Christy Mathewson's No-Hitter

Christy Mathewson started as the New York Giants held the St. Louis Cardinals without a hit on July 15, 1901, winning 5–0.

1905

Christy Mathewson's No-Hitter

Christy Mathewson started as the New York Giants held the Chicago Cubs without a hit on June 13, 1905, winning 1–0.

1916

Final major-league game: Christy Mathewson

Christy Mathewson played a final major-league game on September 4, 1916.

1936

The Hall of Fame's First Five

The Baseball Writers' Association of America announces the first five players elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson.

Image: Paul Thompson, photographer, public domain