1909 Philadelphia Caramel (E95) Christy Mathewson

Christy Mathewson

"Big Six," the college-educated Giants ace who made pitching look respectable: 373 wins, the fadeaway, and three shutouts in the 1905 World Series. Connie Mack later called him the greatest pitcher who ever lived. His story brushes the Black Sox saga — by long-told accounts he and writer Hugh Fullerton marked suspicious plays on their scorecards during the 1919 Series. Weakened after a poison-gas accident in World War I training, he died in 1925 and entered the first Hall of Fame class in 1936.