Born August 12, 1880 in Factoryville, Pennsylvania, Christopher “Christy” Mathewson, also known as “Big Six”, “Matty”, or “The Christian Gentleman”. Christy played during the dead ball era of Major League Baseball and was a right-handed pitcher. He attended Bucknell University and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and played for their football and baseball teams. Although Christy was very athletic in many sports, baseball would be his favorite game. In 1899, Christy signed to play professional baseball with Taunton of the New England League, then switched to the Norfolk team of the Virginia Carolina League. During this time, the New York Giants purchased his contract for $1,500, though disgusted with Christy’s record, the Giants demanded their money back from him and returned him to Norfolk. Later that year, the Cincinnati Reds selected Mathewson in the Rule 5 draft.
Mathewson and the Giants won the 1905 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics, during this series Christy was the starting pitcher in Game 1 and pitched a 4-hit game-winning shutout. Three days later, with the series tied 1-1, he pitched another 4-hit shutout. In a span of just six days, Mathewson had thrown three complete games without allowing a run.
After his spectacular Major League Baseball career, Christy joined the United States Army during World War I and served as a Captain in the newly formed Chemical Service along with Ty Cobb. During a training exercise, he was accidentally gassed and developed tuberculosis. He would later spend his life fighting the disease. In 1925, Christy died of his illness in Saranac Lake, New York and was buried in the Lewisburg Cemetery in Pennsylvania. Christy was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.
