The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #32 Christy Mathewson

Striking the list at #32 is New York Giants hurler “Big Six” Christy Mathewson. Without adjusting for league strength, few pitchers, if any, have more impressive career numbers than Mathewson. He’s third all-time in wins and shutout, 9th all-time in ERA and WHIP, and 10th all-time in WAR for pitchers.  He led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio nine times, BB/9 seven times, ERA+ six times, WAR, ERA, and strikeouts five times and wins, WHIP, and shutouts four times. He’s the only pitcher in history with 12 consecutive seasons of at least 22 wins. He’s also the only pitcher in history with eight consecutive seasons of at least 23 wins. He led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio a record eight consecutive seasons and his 11 300-inning seasons are the most in MLB history. Mathewson’s regular season totals are stuff of make believe so it’s even harder to believe that his postseason numbers are even better. Among starting pitchers, he holds the records for lowest ERA (.97) and WHIP (.836) in posteason history (min 60 innings). He holds the records for most career complete games and shutouts in the World Series and he’s the only pitcher in history with three shutouts in a single World Series.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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