El Paso Herald · El Paso, Texas · 1913

How Great Men Play the Game: Christy Mathewson

Scar studies Christy Mathewson of the Giants in July 1913: a careless gate-swinging warmup that spares the ligaments, a famous I.C.U. pose built to disconcert the runner, and did you ever notice the gum work when the bases are full?

For this installment of How Great Men Play the Game, the syndicated cartoon series the El Paso Herald ran that summer, Scar drew “Christy Mathewson, Star Pitcher of the N.Y. Giants,” and gave the science of pitching its due. Even the loafing is technical: “when warming-up for a game he assumes an easy careless ‘gate-swinging’ attitude to avoid straining the muscles or ligaments.”

Once the game starts the notes get serious. “To get the greatest possible speed to his fast ball he throws the full weight of his body in the pitch,” drawn mid-lunge. “Matty’s great fade-away and slow drop ball are pitched with a short snappy wrist movement,” illustrated with an enormous disembodied hand releasing the most famous pitch in baseball. And with men on base comes the psychology: “this is his famous I.C.U. pose which he created for the purpose of disconcerting the runner and guessing what the batter wants.” Hands laced behind the head, one leg kicked out, the whole pose saying exactly what its name spells.

The corner study finds the tell. “And did you ever notice? The gum work when the bases are full.” A close-up of the great man’s jaw, mid-chew, under maximum pressure. Matty won 25 games in 1913 and walked almost nobody, so evidently the gum held up.