Christy Mathewson Days, Thurs. Aug. 12-Sat. Aug. 14, Keystone College (1 College Green, LaPlume) and Factoryville. For complete schedule and other info, call the hotline at 570.945.8169 or visit www.factoryville.org.
Christy Mathewson was one of the best pitchers in the history of baseball and one of the first five men inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
But he also played football at Bucknell University — where he was class president — played pro football for the Pittsburgh Stars, fought in World War I and kept a promise to his mom to never play baseball on Sundays.
Much more than a baseball player — albeit a preeminent one — Mathewson represents some American ideals that some would say have fallen by the wayside, and that’s a major reason his hometown of Factoryville and Keystone College together host Christy Mathewson Days each year. Mathewson attended the then-Keystone Academy in La Plume, a precursor to Keystone College.
“Christy Mathewson represents what was good about all of us,” said Keystone President Edward Boehm.
Christy Mathewson Days will be held from Thursday, Aug. 12 through Saturday, Aug. 14. It begins at noon Thursday, when the Christy Mathewson Collection opens for the day in the lobby of Keystone’s Gambal Gymnasium. It wraps up Saturday with a parade that begins at Keystone and ends in Factoryville at Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center and Christy Mathewson Park.
The annual event began in 1996 as a one-day celebration but grew into the Thursday-to-Saturday affair.
Since the commemorative community gathering began nearly 15 years ago, Mathewson’s profile has seemed to elevate among area residents, said Factoryville’s Liz Ratchford, who is on the event committee.
“I think the recognition has grown,” Ratchford said. She said that she started a recent tour she led for five groups of kindergarteners at a statue of Mathewson, asking, “Do you know what this park is named after?” The young students knew exactly who Mathewson was.
BIG SIX
Christopher “Christy” Mathewson was born in Factoryville in 1880. He started playing semi-pro baseball in 1895 when he was only 14, and while at Bucknell, he pitched for minor league teams in Honesdale and Meridian, Pa. During his Bucknell athletic career, he was also named a Walter Camp All-American in 1900 as a drop-kicker.
In 1899, Mathewson left college and signed with Taunton, a minor league baseball team, and after two years in the minors he signed with the then-New York Giants in the National League. Later, he pitched for the Cincinnati Reds. He was one of the first college-educated men to play in the majors.
During 17 years in the majors, Mathewson won 373 games — tied for the most in National League history — and his 2.13 career ERA and 79 shutouts are still among the league’s best.
In addition to “Matty,” he was known as “The Christian Gentleman” and “The Big Six.” The origin of “The Big Six” nickname is still debated by authors, with some saying it was due to his 6-foot height, unusually tall during his era. Boehm said a New York sportswriter came up with the nickname to illustrate Mathewson’s reliability, comparing it to a fire department. The Big 6 was a fire truck model. Like the firemen, Mathewson always showed up. The annual Mathewson Days run/walk is called “Big Six.”
In 1918, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I and served overseas as a captain in the Chemical Service along with fellow future Hall of Famer Ty Cobb. During a training exercise in France, Mathewson was accidentally gassed, which led to tuberculosis. He returned to coach for the Giants in 1919 and 1920, but he spent much of that time battling his illness.
He died at age 45 in 1925 in Saranac Lake, N.Y., on Oct. 7 — the day the World Series began that season. In remembrance, the World Series teams (the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Senators) wore black armbands.
Attendees will get to see some of Mathewson’s memorabilia associated with his remarkable career and life at Christy Mathewson Days.
“Christy’s wife Jane came to Factoryville and gave much of the memorabilia to, at what that time, was Keystone Academy,” said Boehm. A stipulation of the donation, Boehm said, was that the memorabilia be put on public display, “and that took on a life of its own” at Mathewson Days.
SCREEN AND STAGE
Christy Mathewson Days 2010 will bring back many of the celebration’s standard components, but it will also mark the debut of a documentary film. The film — about Mathewson Days, not a Mathewson biopic — was created by Nicholson native Danielle Wells and her husband Kevin Malone, from New Jersey. The couple owns 23circles Productions, a production company in Philadelphia.
Ratchford said Wells attended Lackawanna Trail before studying at Temple University, where she met Malone.
“She brought her husband to visit for Christy Mathewson Days, and they said, ‘Why don’t we do a documentary?’” said Ratchford.
The movie will be screened at 8 p.m. Friday in Keystone’s Theatre at Brooks.
Meanwhile, Eddie Frierson will return to Mathewson Days to present his one-man play “Matty: An Evening With Christy Mathewson.” Frierson is also a voice actor who has lent his talents to “Power Rangers” and many other TV and movie productions.
When Frierson — who himself pitched at UCLA — was researching “Matty,” he traveled extensively, including stopping in Factoryville.
“What’s so great about the play is Eddie Frierson comes in, sets up his props on Thursday, and when he steps out of the dressing room, he’s no longer Eddie Frierson; He is Christy Mathewson,” Boehm said. “We’ve seen it 11 times, and every time is different. He takes off. He knows so much about each character, it’s kind of based on the mood.”
BEYOND BASEBALL
Mathewson Days has reached beyond the small entities that host it — the 1,169-resident borough of Factoryville and the nearly 1,400-student Keystone College.
Ratchford noted that the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., has been cooperative, providing the festival committee with photos of the pitcher to be used for Mathewson Day banners. The committee, she said, sometimes advertises Mathewson Days in the Hall of Fame’s Induction Day program, too.
Boehm said there are families with area roots who live outside of Northeastern Pa. that plan their summer vacations around Mathewson Days. A few years ago people from Miami stopped at Mathewson Days on their way to the Hall Of Fame, Ratchford said.
In 2006, noted writer Frank DeFord — a senior contributing writer at Sports Illustrated, a National Public Radio commentator and a correspondent on HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” — made an appearance at Mathewson Days. DeFord’s visit tied in with the 2005 publication of his book “The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball.”
The family nature of the event, as well as the popularity of America’s pastime and Mathewson’s deep connections to Keystone and Factoryville, have seemingly worked together to keep the event moving forward.
“Keystone was very proud of the fact that he attended Keystone Academy,” said Ratchford. “His family was known as one of the founding families of Factoryville. He came back frequently to Factoryville even after his fame as a baseball pitcher.”
Mathewson, a man who died nearly 100 years ago, continues to have an impact not only on the economy of the Factoryville area with Mathewson Days, but also the hearts and minds of people in the area. For example, the code of conduct for Keystone’s athletic department is based on Mathewson’s outlook, Boehm said.
“It really does celebrate a hometown hero who we are proud to tell our children about,” Ratchford said of Mathewson Days. “Not that he was just a great athlete, but he was a great person.”
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