Bobby Mathews

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#000080
bgcolor2=#000080
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Bobby Mathews
position=Pitcher
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=November 21, 1851
city-state|Baltimore|Maryland
deathdate=death date and age|1898|4|17|1851|11|21
city-state|Baltimore|Maryland
debutdate=May 4
debutyear=by|1871
debutteam=Fort Wayne Kekiongas
finaldate=October 10
finalyear=by|1887
finalteam=Philadelphia Athletics
stat1label=Win-Loss record
stat1value=297-248
stat2label=ERA
stat2value=2.89
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=1,366
teams=
* Fort Wayne Kekiongas (by|1871)
* Baltimore Canaries (by|1872)
* New York Mutuals (by|1873-by|1876)
* Cincinnati Reds (by|1877)
* Providence Grays (by|1879, by|1881)
* Boston Red Caps (by|1881-by|1882)
* Philadelphia Athletics (by|1883-by|1887)
highlights=
* Won first National Association game on May 4, 1871

Robert T. Mathews (November 21, 1851 – April 17, 1898) was a right-handed professional baseball pitcher for twenty years beginning in the late 1860s. He is one inventor of the spitball pitch, which was rediscovered or reintroduced to the major leagues after he died. He is also credited with the first legal pitch which broke away from the batter. He is listed at 5 feet 5 inches tall and 140 pounds, unusually small even in his time.

Born 1851 in Baltimore, Maryland, Mathews played as a teenager with the Maryland club of that city, and he made the team a dangerous one. For the 1871 season, he and some other Maryland players signed with the Fort Wayne Kekiongas. On May 4, 1871 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he pitched a shutout in the inaugural game of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA), the first professional league.cite book |author=Pietrusza, David; Matthew Silverman; Gershman, Michael |title=Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia |publisher=Total Sports |location=New York |year=2000 |pages=pg 720 |isbn=1-892129-34-5 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=2008-06-26]

Mathews umpired a few games between 1871 and 1888 and signed with the regular staff of the Players League in 1890, returning to the AA in 1891.

Over his 16-year career, he had 297 wins, 254 losses, 525 complete games, with a career earned run average of 2.89. He had 1366 strikeouts compared with 533 walks. He won 20 games 8 times, including 42 in 1874 with the New York Mutuals of the National Association, and is the only player to win 50 games or to pitch 100 gamescite book |author=Charlton, James; Shatzkin, Mike; Holtje, Stephen |title=The Ballplayers: baseball's ultimate biographical reference |publisher=Arbor House/William Morrow |location=New York |year=1990 |pages= pg 679|isbn=0-87795-984-6 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=2008-06-26] in each of three major leagues. He is the 24th winningest pitcher in baseball. [cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/historical/leaders.jsp?c_id=mlb&Submit=Submit&sortByStat=W&baseballScope=mlb&statType=2&timeFrame=3&timeSubFrame=0 |title=The Official Site of Major League Baseball: Stats: Historical Leaders |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-06-26]

He died 1898 in Baltimore, only 46 years old. He is buried in New Cathedral Cemetery, Baltimore.cite web |url=http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/Pmathb101.htm |title=Retrosheet |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-06-26]

ee also

* List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
* List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
* List of Major League Baseball saves champions

External links

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References

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