Mathewson At First Base

Surprise Starts From 1902

Mathewson at First Base

Believe it or not, Christy Mathewson started 3 times at first base in 1902. And, no, this wasn’t an accident.

Mathewson’s first start at first base came on June 28, 1902, which was only a few weeks before John McGraw came up from Baltimore. And, as you can see here, it was a complete surprise:

From New York Evening World, June 28, 1902, page 1

There’s really no evidence that Mathewson was seriously being considered for conversion to shortstop, by the way. What I think happened (as I explained in the video) is that the Giants were frustrated that Hal O’Hagan was such a poor hitter — and that they had given up Dirty Jack Doyle for nothing.

From The New York Sun, June 29, 1902, page 8

Mathewson started at first the next game as well:

From New York Evening World, June 30, 1902, page 1

It didn’t help much.

From The New York Sun, July 1, 1902, page 5

And then came his final start at first base. This time, however, the New York press was much more interested in Heinie Wagner, a 21 year old making his first ever major league appearance for the Giants.

From New York Evening World, July 1, 1902, page 1

The press only had sarcastic comments to make about Matty showing up on first base again:

From New York Evening World, July 1, 1902, page 4

And, once again, it didn’t do much to help the Giants:

From The New York Sun, July 2, 1902, page 5

A few more notes on the subject:

• Mathewson was not chosen to be the first baseman because he was a good hitter. There are a few rumors to that effect, but I have seen no reason to believe them.

• It’s probably not true that the other players badgered the manager into letting Christy start at first base. Many historical accounts of Mathewson’s career make this claim. I strongly believe that the catalyst was releasing Jack Doyle for no apparent reason.

• McGraw isn’t the one who ended this practice. Mathewson’s final start at first base came 3 weeks before McGraw joined the Giants.