Christy Mathewson was every boys hero when he played major league baseball of the New York Giants during his career from 1900 to 1916.
Mathewson is one of baseball's all-time great players, and that may not say enough.
Mathewson's career numbers are these: 373 wins/188 losses, 2.13 earned run average, 2507 strikeouts, 435 complete games, 79 shutouts and a 1.058 walks/hits per 9 innings.
Mathewson was elected to the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame class in 1936. That 1936 Baseball Hall of Fame class only included Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson - and Mathewson.
Mathewson wrote Pitching In A Pinch in 1912 in the midst of his stellar career, and the year after he was second in the National League in Most Valuable Player voting.
All of this is important to emphasize just what kind of player Mathewson was, but all of these statistics and accolades need to be coupled with Mathewson's personality and character. In an age of hard-drinking, hard-living baseball players, Mathewson was the model of clean living, wrote a series of children's book and carried himself humbly even though he was the marquee player on the great Giants teams managed by John McGraw.
Pitching In A Pinch is written by Mathewson is direct, casual first-person just as though the pitcher himself was talking to you as you shared an ice tea with him on the front porch of his home. In 1912, a book like this would have been a boys dream. The biggest sports hero of the day was talking just to you in this book.
Mathewson covers how to pitch in the big leagues, how to get along with coaches (most importantly, the notorious McGraw), how to get prepared in the spring, how to find your own "groove" as well as the "grooves" of other players, how to learn from each time you face a batter, how a team plays defense in the field, how to pitch when you don't have your best stuff, baseball players superstitions and habits, and most importantly hoe to pitch in the critical moments that will "break" a game - or, how to pitch in the pinch.
The book offers wonderful insight into baseball played at a high level. It also offers a great look to baseball in the first decade of the 1900's.
If you are a baseball fan, you will love this book.
If you are a history fan, you will love this book.
If you are a fan of Christy Mathewson, you will love this book.
This would be a great book to own, but you can find it for free in ebook format, at Project Guttenberg right here.
Christy Mathewson's biography is here.
Christy Mathewson's statistics are here.
John McGraw biography is here.
Mathewson is one of baseball's all-time great players, and that may not say enough.
Mathewson's career numbers are these: 373 wins/188 losses, 2.13 earned run average, 2507 strikeouts, 435 complete games, 79 shutouts and a 1.058 walks/hits per 9 innings.
Mathewson was elected to the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame class in 1936. That 1936 Baseball Hall of Fame class only included Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson - and Mathewson.
Mathewson wrote Pitching In A Pinch in 1912 in the midst of his stellar career, and the year after he was second in the National League in Most Valuable Player voting.
All of this is important to emphasize just what kind of player Mathewson was, but all of these statistics and accolades need to be coupled with Mathewson's personality and character. In an age of hard-drinking, hard-living baseball players, Mathewson was the model of clean living, wrote a series of children's book and carried himself humbly even though he was the marquee player on the great Giants teams managed by John McGraw.
Pitching In A Pinch is written by Mathewson is direct, casual first-person just as though the pitcher himself was talking to you as you shared an ice tea with him on the front porch of his home. In 1912, a book like this would have been a boys dream. The biggest sports hero of the day was talking just to you in this book.
Mathewson covers how to pitch in the big leagues, how to get along with coaches (most importantly, the notorious McGraw), how to get prepared in the spring, how to find your own "groove" as well as the "grooves" of other players, how to learn from each time you face a batter, how a team plays defense in the field, how to pitch when you don't have your best stuff, baseball players superstitions and habits, and most importantly hoe to pitch in the critical moments that will "break" a game - or, how to pitch in the pinch.
The book offers wonderful insight into baseball played at a high level. It also offers a great look to baseball in the first decade of the 1900's.
If you are a baseball fan, you will love this book.
If you are a history fan, you will love this book.
If you are a fan of Christy Mathewson, you will love this book.
This would be a great book to own, but you can find it for free in ebook format, at Project Guttenberg right here.
Christy Mathewson's biography is here.
Christy Mathewson's statistics are here.
John McGraw biography is here.
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