By Raymond Gonzalez

    Christy Mathewson was probably the greatest pitcher in National League history, and this is reflected in the outstanding statistics he compiled from 1900 to 1916 in victories, percentage, strikeouts, and earned run average. One newly developed statistic for pitchers of his era which is not so outstanding is the number of home runs he allowed.

    Mathewson gave up 91 home runs in 4783 innings. That is a very good ratio by modern standards, but it must be remembered that he pitched his entire career in the deadball era prior to 1920 when comparatively few fourbaggers were hit. A look at the records of some of Matty's pitching contemporaries indicates that they were more stingy about giving up the four-base blow (Federal League records for these hurlers are not included).

                                                IP        HR

               Chief Bender           2850   33

               Mordecai Brown      2703   33

               George Mullin          3484   35

               Eddie Plank             4245   41

               Ed Reulbach            2363   35

               Ed Walsh                 2964   24

    The New York Giants' righthander was, over-all, a better hurler than any of the above, but probably was touched for the long ball more frequently because he was a hard thrower with good control, giving some batters a chance to dig in. They certainly did zero in on him in 1914, blasting him for 16 roundtrippers. This was the most homers given up by any NL hurler in a season in the 1900-20 period. Ironically, he still had a good season, winning 25 games.

    A review of the list of players hitting home runs off Mathewson indicates many who were not great hitters or home run threats. The chief slugger of that period, Frank Schulte of the Cubs, connected only twice off "Big Six." On the other hand, Joe Tinker, a poor batter but a notorious nemesis of Mathewson, hit three homers off the famous fadeaway finger.

    It was a third Chicago Cub player, Vic Saier, who hit the most home runs off Matty. He connected five times in the relatively brief period that they were opponents. The last time was on September 4, 1916, which was the only game Matty pitched for Cincinnati and the last of his career. There were special arrangements made so that Mathewson could face his old rival, Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown of the Cubs. It also was the last game for Brown, who lost 10-8 in spite of Saier's three-run homer.

    Johnny Kling and Owen Wilson were next with four roundtrippers off Mathewson. Honus Wagner, who probably faced Matty more than any other player (because of their closely synchronized careers), reached him for only three home runs in 17 years. Matty gave up only one grand slam and this was to journeyman infielder Frank Bonner ot the Braves, who drove the ball into the rightfield stands at the Polo Grounds on April 27, 1903. Fred Tenney also homered in that game, but Matty still struggled through to a 10-7 victory.

    There were two opposing hurlers who connected off Mathewson.  Willie Sudhoff of the Cardinals on June 24, 1901, and George Tyler of the Braves on May 4, 1916. As a batter, Matty hit seven homers in his career.

    Mathewson was the victim of lefthanded batters 51 times and righties 40 times. In addition to the 54 homers hit off him in New York, he gave up 8 in Chicago, 7 in Philadelphia and St. Louis, 5 in Pittsburgh, 4 in Cincinnati, and 3 each in Brooklyn and Boston.

    Here is a rundown of the 91 homers hit off Mathewson in his major league career.