The Player: Christy Mathewson, Baseball, and the American Century

I agree with just about all the positive and negative critisms I've read here about this book. It's definitely worth reading...but just don't expect too much.

When I was given this book, the gift-bearer informed me that it was the perfect gift for me, "... a book about baseball AND U.S. history.". Being the grateful recipient of said gift I of course bit my tongue, didn't respond, "How do you separate the two?", and accepted the gift in the spirit it was given. Now, after reading it, I realize how smart my niece is. The book is indeed about both, and without wandering too far from its subject, (Christy, in case there is some confusion), is a very enagaging read. Similar books about this time period in baseball tend to get repetitive and somewhat choppy to read by piecing together newspaper reports and box scores. This author alleviates that problem by also tracking events in the U.S., (and the world as 1914 approaches), while Christy pitches his way through his baseball career. This is recommended for baseball novices, hard core fans and anyone in between as it's a nicely written book.

"The Player" provided a trip back in time to what it was like playing ball around the turn of the century through the times of the first World War. To understand what Mathewson meant to the game itself is truly amazing. Not only being a phonomenal pitcher with exceptional control, he realized that he was a role model for others, not only the young kids that idolized him, but the everyday american worker. To know what he gave of himself to others off the ball field, his charity work, volunteering for WWI at the age of 37, gives us a better insight to the individual. The book also tells of his attempts to clean up the game, before the Black Sox scandal. He knew it was going on, tried to warn others, but no one would listen. A great read if you want to get a much clearer insight into one of the greatest ball players of all time. One that is unfortunatelly forgotten by too many in today's game.

Considering the book is less than 200 pages long I wondered what this book would tell me about Christy Mathewson I haven't already read somewhere else. Author Philip Seib emphasizes the positive role model Matty played both as a player and as a private citizen. The author also provides us with details of former major leaguer Eddie Grant who lost his life fighting in World War I. His monument used to appear in center field in the Polo Grounds, and I was pleased to read details I hadn't read before. Mathewson enlisted in World War I, and came in contact with poisonous gas in a training drill in Europe shortly before The Great War ended. He returned from Europe to help McGraw as a coach with the Giants, and once again encountered the crooked Hal Chase whom Matty had in his brief tenure as manager of the Cincinnati Reds after his (Matty's) playing days were over. He was an observer of the 1919 World Series between the White Sox and Reds, and to his dismay, observed what he believed to be crookedness in the play of the Chicago team. His cough persisted, and progressed to tuberculosis. Matty spent time at Saranac Lake in upstate New York where the dry air was thought to be helpful to patients. He felt well enough to join the Boston Braves in the front office, but had to return to Saranac Lake where he died during the 1925 World Series. This would be an excellent book for both beginning readers of Christy Mathewson, or those who have a more extensive knowledge of one of the first five members elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame.

It's been almost 90 years since Christy Mathewson last threw a pitch in a major league baseball game, and more than 75 years since his untimely death from tuberculosis. Yet time has left his on-the-field achievements and his greater legacy undiminished. His 373 career wins are still third highest in major league history. In this slim, gracefully written volume Philip Seib explores not only Mathewson's role in the game, but in the context of the larger society as well. Professional baseball at the dawn of the 20th century was still seen as a haven for rowdies. The college-educated Mathewson represented a new standard, one in harmony with President Theodore Roosevelt's affirmation of the active life. As America moved toward involvement in World War I under the idealistic Woodrow Wilson, Mathewson's willingness to serve was once again in synch with the mood of the era. When Matty stood against the corruption that infected the game in the late teens, it was a precursor to greed and scandals that seemed to dominate national life in the 1920s. Seib's book is a worthy tribute to a great player, and more significantly, a great man.--William C. Hall