He was among the most dominant pitchers in baseball history, and ranks in the all-time top 10 in several key pitching categories, including wins, shutouts, and earned run average.

His respiratory system was weakened from the exposure, causing him to contract tuberculosis, from which he died in Saranac Lake, New York, in 1925.

He attended college at Bucknell University, where he served as class president and played on the school's football, basketball, and baseball teams.

[6] The manager of the Factoryville ball club asked Mathewson to pitch in a game with a rival team in Mill City, Pennsylvania.

[6] He continued to play baseball during his years at Bucknell, pitching for minor league teams in Honesdale and Meridian, Pennsylvania.

[10] While a member of the New York Giants, Mathewson played fullback for the Pittsburgh Stars of the first National Football League.

[11] In 1899, Mathewson signed to play professional baseball with Taunton Herrings of the New England League, where he finished with a record of 2–13.

He employed a good fastball, outstanding control, and, especially a new pitch he termed the "fadeaway" (later known in baseball as the "screwball"), which he learned from teammate Dave Williams in 1898.

[14] This reference is challenged by Ken Burns documentary Baseball in which it is stated that Mathewson learned his "fadeaway" from Andrew "Rube" Foster when New York Giants manager John McGraw quietly hired Rube to show the Giants bullpen what he knew.

However, as part of the settlement that ended the two-year war between the American and National Leagues, Mathewson and Browns owner Robert Lee Hedges tore up the contract.

Hedges later said that ensuring the return of peace to the game was more important, even if it meant effectively giving up a pennant.

Posting low earned run averages and winning nearly 100 games, Mathewson helped lead the Giants to their first National League title in 1903, and a berth in first World Series.

After switching to catcher, Roger Bresnahan had begun collaborating with Mathewson, whose advanced memory of hitter weaknesses paved the way for a historic season.

Winning the most games of his career, 37, coupled with a 1.43 earned run average and 259 strikeouts, he claimed a second triple crown.

Mathewson returned for an outstanding 1909 season; though not as dominant as the previous year, he posted a better earned run average (1.14), and a record of 25–6.

In 1915, Mathewson's penultimate season in New York, the Giants were the worst team in the National League standings.

Christy Mathewson Jr. served in World War II, and died in an explosion at his home in Texas on August 16, 1950.

As he was a clean-cut, intellectual collegiate, his rise to fame brought a better name to the typical ballplayer, who usually spent his time gambling, boozing, or womanizing.

However, the impact of this practice on the Giants was minimized, since, in the eight-team National League, only the Chicago Cubs (Illinois), Cincinnati Reds (Ohio), and St. Louis Cardinals (Missouri) played home games in states that allowed professional sports on Sunday.

In his free time, Mathewson enjoyed nature walks, reading, golf, and checkers, of which he was a renowned champion player.

The combination of athletic skill and intellectual hobbies made him a favorite for many fans, even those opposed to the Giants.

[25] Years later, Mathewson co-wrote a mildly successful play called The Girl and The Pennant, which was inspired by Helene Hathaway Britton's ownership of the St. Louis Cardinals.

[27] One of the journalists to unmask the 1919 Black Sox, Hugh Fullerton, consulted Mathewson for information about baseball gambling.

Representing the only former ballplayer among the group of investigating journalists, Mathewson played a small role in Fullerton's exposure of the 1919 World Series scandal.

[28] He served overseas as a captain in the newly formed Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) along with Ty Cobb.

'[30] This account has widely been accepted as true, although it is not without its detractors: Branch Rickey, who also served in the CWS alongside Mathewson, flatly denied the incident; other historians have noted that Stump's book, published after Cobb's death, is sensationalized and generally unreliable.

[32] Although he returned to serve as a coach for the Giants from 1919 to 1921, he spent a good portion of that time in Saranac Lake fighting the tuberculosis, initially at the Trudeau Sanitorium, and later in a house that he had built.

[12] In 1923, Mathewson returned to professional baseball when Giants attorney Emil Fuchs and he put together a syndicate that bought the Boston Braves.

Although initial plans called for Mathewson to be principal owner and team president, his health had deteriorated so much that he could perform only nominal duties.