The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-08-06
MATTHEWSON
LETTING DOWN
TERRIBLE STRAIN Is TELLING
UPON HIM.
He Has Won but Two Of the Last Six
Games He Has Pitched One of
These Victories Was Against St.
Louis, When He Shut That Heavy
Hitting Aggregation Out Without
Run or a Hit-Has the Record
for the Season to Date.

The vicissitudes of the great game
of base ball have been never more
clearly illustrated than in the case of
Christy Matthewson. of Factoryvillc,
Bucknell collegian, ex-Scranton Young
Mems Christian association player, and
known variously to fame through the
medium of New York papers as Mat
tie" and "Mauser Ball Mat"
Matthewsons career has been watch
ed throughout the season by hundreds
of Scranton enthusiasts who remember
the tail young athlete who used to
shoot the ball over the plate out at
the ball park, and who used to ocCa-
sionally vigorosuly dent the fence with
a long drive, when at bat. When he
started the season by scoring eight
straight victories. four of which were
shutouts, there was wild commotion in
the base ball world.
The Factoryville boy was declared by
many veteran ex-players to be a Won
der a marvel. Umpire Frank Dwyer.
himself formerly a pitcher of no mean
reputc, going as far as to say that the
BuCknell student was the greatest
twirler that ever footed the rubber
Matthewson's fame extended through
out the National League circuit. and
the preliminary announcement that he
would pitch. invariably caused the di-
mensions of the attending crowd to as
sumo record breaking dimensions.
AS the season progressed, however
Matthewson began to lose, the terri
BILE strain of the early part of the sea-
son evidently beginning to tell upon
him, and of his last six games he has
won but two. The first game of the
six was "Mauser Ball Mats" greatest
victory. 1t was against the st. Louis
team, which was the first team to re-
Gister a defeat against him. and whose
members had invariably managed to
solve his choicest curves. on this oc-
Casion. however, he had them guessing
and blanked what Is unquestionablv
the greatest aggregation of batters in
the country without a hit or run.
Matthewson has been unfortunate in
having behind him a team strong
neither at the bat nor i'm the field. In
the early part of the season, New York
lead the league for several weeks, but
il was only through the phenomenal
pitching of Matthewson and the clever
work of his two box mates, Phyle and
Taylor, with occasionally a fantastic
batting streak to help along. Had he
been with a team like Pittsburg or St
Louis, there seems little doubt that he
would have led the leagues box men.
Probably all of the games Matthew
son won were victories due to himself
team bat behind him. He has had to
a. Ia oil IL
, a result in number of strikes and shut
outs he leads the National League
which Is no mean achievement in a
year when good pitchers have been as
numerous S the berries of the field.
point which has aroused consider
able comment throughout the year
has been the often discussed question:
rs the New York team knocking
Matthewson?" The assertion has been
made before in these columns that
from all appearances the Giants very
decidedly have given an icy shoulder
to the young colleRian. and facts all
year have borne cut this claim.
In the games in which Matthewson
pitched, safe hits were few and scat
tered, While the instant any other New
York pitcher went into the box every
man on the team from George Davis
to Sammy Stang did his best to pound
the cover off the ball. This was vivid
ly illustrated during the early part Of
the season, when Matthewson lost A
maSnihcently pitched game against
Cincinnati because the team made
about five hits behind him, and the
very next day the same team used up
all the Reds pitchers by making the
batting record of the season, something
like thirty odd hits.
The conduct OF the Gothamite players
towards the winning pitcher and
chronicler. of the team has been, like
that of Bret Harte's far-famed Hea-
then Chinee, decidedly peculiar"