Bucknell's Most Famous Student-Athlete, Christy Mathewson, to be Inducted into College Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday
7/2/2007 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 28, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - At modern-day Bucknell, the mission of the athletics program is to enhance the university's core values and educational goals through competition at the highest level of college athletics. The adherence to that fundamental scholar-athlete principle has roots that date back more than 100 years, back to the days of the school's most famous student-athlete, Christy Mathewson.
Mathewson, who on Wednesday will be inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural veteran's class, was not only one of the preeminent athletes of his era, but he helped dispel the popular notion at the time that elite sportsmen could not also be well-educated gentlemen.
During his days at Bucknell from 1898 to 1901, Mathewson was a three-sport star in baseball, basketball and football, and he actually gained his most fame as a collegian as an All-America kicker and fullback on the gridiron. But he was more than just an athlete at Bucknell. Mathewson was a member of the band and glee club, he served as historian of his freshman class and as president of his junior class. He was also a member of the Eupian Literary Society and Theta Delta Tau, a men's honorary leadership society.
Mathewson left Bucknell in 1901 to pursue his burgeoning baseball career, and he went on to help the New York Giants win four pennants during his 14-year tenure with the club. His performance in the 1905 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics is still considered one of the most remarkable pitching feats of all time. He pitched three shutouts in a five-day span to lead the Giants to the title.
With a lifetime record of 373-188 to go along with 79 shutouts, 2,502 strikeouts and a career earned-run average of 2.13, Mathewson was elected as one of five original members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame in 1979 as part of its inaugural class, and on Wednesday he joins the College Baseball Hall of Fame along with fellow veteran inductees Lou Gehrig (Columbia), Joe Sewell (Alabama) and John "Jack" Barry (Holy Cross).
Head coach Gene Depew will be in Lubbock, Texas, representing Bucknell for this week's Hall of Fame festivities, culminating in the induction ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Symphony Hall. Sponsored by the College Baseball Foundation, there will also be a Hall of Fame Showcase on Tuesday and an Independence Day parade and FanFest on Wednesday.
In addition to the veteran's class, five coaches and six players are also being inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. The players are Jim Abbott (Michigan), Pete Incaviglia (Oklahoma State), Fred Lynn (USC), John Olerud (Washington State), Phil Stephenson (Wichita State) and Derek Tatsuno (Hawaii), while the coaches are Chuck "Bobo" Brayton (Washington State), Jim Brock (Arizona State), Bibb Falk (Texas), Jerry Kendall (Arizona) and Dick Siebert (Minnesota).
Mathewson, who married a Lewisburg native in the former Jane Stoughton, went on to serve in the U.S. Army's chemical warfare division during World War I. His tour in France severely damaged his health, and upon returning home he spent many years battling tuberculosis in Saranac Lake, N.Y. He passed away in 1925 and is now buried in the Lewisburg cemetery, just a few paces from Bucknell's athletics center.
Bucknell's football stadium - Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium - was rededicated in his honor in 1989, and the brick and iron Mathewson Memorial Gateway greets visitors to campus, along with the bronze tablet that reads: "Christopher Mathewson: Athlete, Soldier, Gentleman."
Noted sportswriter Grantland Rice once wrote of Mathewson: "He was something more than a great pitcher. He was one of those rare characters who appeal to the millions through a magnetic personality attached to clean honesty and undying loyalty to a cause."
His legacy lives on in many walks of life, but particularly at Bucknell today, where current Bison student-athletes study and sweat just as "Matty" did more than a century ago.
