Written by Admin | Feb 20, 2014 5:00:00 AM
This week we are excited to auction off this extraordinary T206 Christy Mathewson Portrait Variation SGC 40 baseball card, with the rare Sovereign Back! Mathewson was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played 17 seasons with the New York Giants. He was among the most dominant pitchers of his or any era and ranks in the all-time top-10 in most of the major pitching categories including wins, shutouts, and ERA. During his 17-year career, Mathewson won 373 games and lost 188 for a .665 winning percentage. His career ERA of 2.13 and 79 career shutouts are among the best all-time, and his 373 wins is still tops in the National League, tied with Grover Cleveland Alexander. Employing a good fastball, outstanding control, and a pitch he termed the "Fadeaway", later known in baseball as the "Screwball". Mathewson recorded 2,507 career strikeouts against only 848 walks. He is famous for his 25 pitching duels with Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, who won 13 of the duels against Mathewson's 11, with one no-decision. After switching to catcher, Roger Bresnahan had begun collaborating with Mathewson, whose advanced memory of hitter weaknesses paved the way for a historic season. Pinpoint control guided Mathewson's pitches to Bresnahan's glove. In 338 innings, Mathewson walked only 64 batters. He shut out opposing teams eight times, pitching entire games in brief 90-minute sessions. Besides winning 31 games, Mathewson allowed only 1.28 earned runs for every nine innings. His 206 strikeouts led the league, earning him the Pitching Triple Crown. In 1912 Mathewson was stellar. Capturing the pennant, the Giants were fueled by a superior pitching staff. In the 1912 World Series, the Giants faced the Boston Red Sox. Though Mathewson threw three complete games and maintained an ERA below 1.00, numerous errors by the Giants, including a lazy popup dropped by Fred Snodgrass in game 7, cost them the championship. The Giants would also lose the 1913 World Series, a 101-win season cemented by Mathewson's final brilliant season on the mound: a league-leading 2.06 ERA in over 300 innings pitched complemented by a microscopic 0.6 bases on balls per nine innings pitched. In 1936, Mathewson was elected into the newly founded Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its "first five" inaugural members. Don't miss out on this great opportunity to win this amazing T206 card of one of the greatest pitchers of all time, Christy Mathewson!