DATE: 1926 ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 1 Original - Printed from the original negative within about 2 years of when it was shot TEAM: New York Giants SUBJECTS: Christy Mathewson, Gertrude Boyle ISSUER: Wide World Photos APPROXIMATE SIZE: 8"x10-1/8" NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is one of a large accumulation of vintage sports photographs, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: Christopher Mathewson (Big Six, Matty, or The Christian Gentleman) was born in Factoryville, PA and died in 1925 in Saranac Lake, NY. He went to college at Bucknell University. He played major league baseball from 1900 to 1916 as pitcher for the New York Giants and a single game for the Cincinnati Reds, appeared in the 1905, 1911, 1912 and 1913 World Series, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. He played in what is known as the dead ball era and in 1936 was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its inaugural members. On July 20, 1916, Mathewson's career came full circle when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds along with Edd Roush. He won one game with the Reds and served as their manager for the next three seasons. In 1918, Mathewson enlisted in the United States Army for World War I. He served overseas as a Captain in the newly formed Chemical Service along with Ty Cobb. While in France, during a training exercise he was accidentally gassed and consequently developed tuberculosis. Although he returned to serve as a coach for the Giants from 1919–1920, he spent a good portion of that time in Saranac Lake fighting the illness, initially at the Trudeau Sanitorium, and later in a house that he had built. In 1923, Mathewson got back into professional baseball when he served as part-time president of the Boston Braves. Two years later, he died in Saranac Lake, New York. He is buried at Lewisburg Cemetery in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Members of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Senators wore black armbands during the 1925 World Series. Mathewson had died on the day the Series began. Christy Mathewson Day is celebrated as a holiday in his hometown of Factoryville, Pennsylvania, on the Saturday closest to his birthday. Mathewson is mentioned in the poem "Lineup for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash: M is for Matty, Who carried a charm In the form of an extra brain in his arm. In 1936, Christy Mathewson was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the famous "First Five" inductees into the HOF, along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson and Honus Wagner. In 1999, he ranked number 7 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking National League pitcher. ESPN selected his pitching performance in the 1905 World Series as the greatest playoff performance of all time. During WW II, a 422 foot Liberty Ship named in his honor, SS Christy Mathewson, was built in Richmond, CA in 1943. SKU: L14499
Item: L14499
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