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Christy Mathewson and the 1912 Giants Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:
June 13th Was A Lucky Day For Christy Mathewson!
Who says the number 13 is unlucky? I doubt Christy Mathewson would agree with that old adage. “Big Six” recorded two career milestone victories on June 13th.
The first occurred on June 13, 1905, 115 years ago today at Chicago’s West Side Grounds. On that day, the Giants’ ace was locked in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel with another future Hall-of-Famer, Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown, who was pitching for the Orphans, shortly to be known as the Cubs. The two greats matched hitless scoreless innings until the top on the ninth when the Giants collected two hits and pushed a run across the plate. They held on to win the game, 1-0. In so doing, Matty recorded his second no-hitter. Just four years earlier, he had become the first rookie in the post-1900 modern era to toss a hitless game.
The second June 13th event was a historic one. It happened on June 13, 1912. The Cubs were again Matty’s victim, but this time game was played at the Polo Grounds. In the top of the ninth with no outs, Christy stranded a runner on third and again edged out the Cubs, this time by a score of 3-2. With this victory, he recorded the 300th win of his brilliant career.
The “Christian Gentleman”
Of course, Matty wasn’t finished—not by a long shot. Over his 17-year career (1900-1916), he compiled a 371-188 record (.665), with a 2.13 ERA, 435 complete games, and 79 shutouts over 4788.2 innings, becoming the third-winningest pitcher in major league history (tied with Pete Alexander). He’s behind only Cy Young (511) and Walter Johnson (417).
In addition to his two no-hitters, other career highlights for the Factoryville, Pennsylvania native and Bucknell grad include: two World Series championships, and winning two pitching Triple Crowns. He led the National League in wins four times, ERA five times, and strikeouts five times. Christy was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century team, and was a first-ballot inductee to the Hall of Fame in 1936.
The Giants of 1910-1913
Reading about Mathewson’s accomplishments on this date got me thinking about one of my favorite Dead Ball Era dynasties: the John McGraw Giants teams of the early 1910s. With Christy Mathewson as the ace of the staff, they won consecutive National League pennants in 1911, 1912, and 1913, with Mathewson a combined 74-37 (.666), 2.05 ERA over this period. A few years later, they won another in 1917. Unfortunately for the Giants, all four of these teams lost in the World Series. The 1911 and ‘13 teams lost to Connie Mack’s A’s, the 1912 team to the Red Sox, and the 1917 team to the White Sox.
The 1912 Giant team may have been the best of the era. They dominated the National League in 1912 opening the season at 54-11 and building a 16.5 lead by July 3rd. They finished the season at 103-48 (.682), ten games ahead of the second-place Pirates. Together with the 1911 and 1913 teams, the 1912 Giants made up one of the game’s earliest dynasties, going 303-153 (.664) from 1911-’13.
In the beautiful photo below, we see the 1912 National League pennant-winning Giants. Check out my player identifications at the end of the post.
Offensively, the 1912 Giants were a powerhouse. Although their team .286 batting average was only fourth best, they lead the league in runs, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, on-base percentage, and OPS. Larry Doyle was the National League MVP, and Chief Meyers had one of the greatest offensive seasons ever for a catcher, finishing second in batting average (.358), first in on-base percentage (.441), and fourth in slugging (.477).
And what a pitching staff, easily the best in the league, with four great starters: Jeff Tesreau (17-7, 1.96), Christy Mathewson (23-12, 2.12) Rube Marquard (26-11, 2.57), and Red Ames (11-5, 2.46). Tesreau’s 1.96 ERA led the league, while Mathewson’s 2.12 was second. Mathewson was also second in complete games (27), and fourth in wins (23). Rube Marquard‘s 18-game winning streak was the top story in baseball that year, while his 26 wins led the league and he finished third in strikeouts (175). Red Ames’ 2.46 ERA was fifth in the league. Reliever Doc Crandall also had a fine season, going 13-7 with a 3.61 ERA.
The Giants lost the 1912 World Series in heartbreaking fashion, with Fred Snodgrass taking most of the blame with his infamous “$30,000 Muff.” Although the New York sportswriters made him the goat of the Series, there was plenty of blame to go round. The Series featured classic pitching matchups between Mathewson and the Red Sox’ Smoky Joe Wood. Interviews with Marquard, Meyers, and Snodgrass made up a good portion of the classic baseball book by Lawrence Ritter, “The Glory of Their Times.”
1912 New York Giants Player Identifications
Top Row, L-R: Lore Bader, Heine Groh, Dave Robertson, Ted Goulait, George Burns, Fred Merkle, Grover Hartley, Doc Crandall, Hooks Wiltse, Al Demaree, Wilbert Robinson, Art Wilson, Red Ames, Moose McCormack, Larue Kirby, Tillie Shafer. Front Row, L-R: Art Fletcher, “Laughing Larry” Doyle, Chief Meyers, Fred Snodgrass, Buck Herzog, Red Murray, Mascot Hennessey, John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, Rube Marquard, Jeff Tesreau, Josh Devore, Beals Becker.
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Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from Google search
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Very much enjoyed the essay, Gary. My dad was a huge Giants’ fan and loved Christy Mathewson. Everything about Matty personified the word hero.
Ate up all the stats on those great teams, but the 1916 National League season was a remarkable one for the Polo Grounders. They finished fourth, seven games behind the Brooklyn Robins, in one of the most topsy-turvy seasons in history. The team went 86-66 but won 17 straight in May. And then 26 in a row (with one tie) in September!
In 1917, the Giants won with a record of 98-56, 10 games ahead of the Phillies. However, the Robins crashed from the top spot the year before to 7th place, with a mark of 70-81–26 and a half games out of first place!
As they say, baseball is a game of streaks.
Thanks Bill…I remember reading about those streaks you mentioned. The 1916 pennant race might make for an interesting essay itself, hint, hint…!
Gary,
Per your previous general suggestion, I’m taking you up on the Vinegar Bend Mizell essay. That is, if it’s still okay by you at this time.
Yeah, 1916 was amazing for the Giants. The 26 consecutive is a major league record, and then 17 earlier. My dad talked about that year, commenting that the team was wildly erratic but was about to make some noise, which they did.
Thanks!
Bill
That’s great, take Vinegar Bend, but keep the other in mind too for a later date.
Streaky indeed. The 1916 Giants started the season 2-13, then had their 17 game winning streak.
The National League that year had all first division teams at least 20 games over
.500 and all second division teams at least 20 games under .500
During their 17 game streak, they won 14 of 17 from the bottom feeders. During their 26 game streak, they took 19 of 26 from those 4 teams.
Those four teams ranged from 26 to 33 games out of first place Brooklyn by season’s end. And, this was 100 years before “tanking” a season was term in Baseball parlance! Taking those 43 games out of the equation, their final record of 86-66 goes to 43-66.
The Boston Red Sox won their 3rd World Series over Brooklyn that year with pitching from Dutch Leonard, Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore.
Sounds like 1916 would make for a good post…