Christy Mathewson

[andyfox]

In a fine book about Christy Mathewson called The Player: Christy Mathewson, Baseball, and the American Century, author Philip Seib writes:

"Mathewson was among the small number of players who chose not to play on Sunday. When he first began to play professionally, he promised his mother he would observe the Sabbath. Although other teams sometimes scheduled Sunday double-headers against the Giants to avoid facing him, Mathewson never did pitch on a Sunday."

373 wins on only 6/7 of the week. Not bad.

[kerssens]

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Although other teams sometimes scheduled Sunday double-headers against the Giants to avoid facing him, Mathewson never did pitch on a Sunday."

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Didn't the Giants have some say about when the games were played??

[andyfox]

I assume in those days the home team determined things. So if, for example, the Giants were scheduled to play three games in Brooklyn over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, they'd schedule no games on Friday, one on Saturday, and a double-header on Sunday.

But I'm just guessing here.

[Paluka]

[ QUOTE ]
In a fine book about Christy Mathewson called The Player: Christy Mathewson, Baseball, and the American Century, author Philip Seib writes:

"Mathewson was among the small number of players who chose not to play on Sunday. When he first began to play professionally, he promised his mother he would observe the Sabbath. Although other teams sometimes scheduled Sunday double-headers against the Giants to avoid facing him, Mathewson never did pitch on a Sunday."

373 wins on only 6/7 of the week. Not bad.

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This isn't much of a sacrifice for a starting pitcher. They could just schedule his starts accordingly.