Mordecai Brown vs. Christy Mathewson

Christy Mathewson vs. Mordecai Brown ... Mordecai Brown vs. Christy Mathewson. Like some classic fight card, it was the billing that always brought out the crowds. And in those days -- we're talking 1907, 1908 here -- the crowds would literally line the foul lines with a gruff propensity for giving opposing ballplayers a piece of their minds. And sometimes fists. These two Hall of Fame hurlers, Christy Mathewson and Mordecai Brown, delivered more Hall of Fame caliber pitchers duels to those raucous fans' delight than any other two moundsmen in major league history. And it can be argued that Brown and Mathewson comprised the greatest pitching rivalry the baseball world has ever known. Indeed, more often than not when Mordecai Brown and Christy Mathewson took the mound against one another, it had pennant-winning implications, and between them these two great pitchers saw eight World Series during baseball's so-called deadball era.

Mordecai Brown, nicknamed "Three Finger" for a boyhood farm accident that left his right hand disfigured (and the hurler in possession of a devastating natural curveball) played for the Chicago Cubs from 1904 to 1912, and again in 1916. Christy Mathewson, nicknamed "The Big Six" perhaps after the Big Six Fire Company, fastest in New York City, brought his renowned "fade-away" pitch to the New York Giants from 1900 to 1916. Just looking at the stats of these two Hall of Fame pitchers is daunting:

For Christy Mathewson it was 373 career wins, a 2.13 career ERA, 2,502 strikeouts, 13 seasons with 20 or more wins, including a major league record 37 in 1908. The Big Six won the National League Triple Crown -- leading the circuit in ERA, wins, and strikeouts -- in 1905 and 1908. Christy Mathewson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1936.

For Mordecai Brown it was 239 career wins, a 2.06 career ERA, including a major league record of 1.04 in 1906, 1,375 strikeouts, and six straight seasons (1906-1911) with 20 or more wins thanks to what Hall of Fame slugger Ty Cobb called "the most devastating pitch I ever saw." Three Finger pitched four World Series shutout wins and led the National League in saves four times. Mordecai Brown joined Mathewson in the Hall of Fame in 1949.

Stats aside, it was the intense rivalry between these two legendary hurlers that was the real story. And the Brown-Mathewson rivalry only grew in intensity, season after season, as the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants battled for supremacy in the National League. Mordecai Brown and Christy Mathewson faced off a total of 25 times, Three Finger edging The Big Six 13 games to 11 with just one no decision. Indeed, one would be hard pressed to find a better pitching rivalry in all of major league history.

Anticipating that great rivalry, Mordecai Brown out-dueled Christy Mathewson, 3-2, on June 13, 1904, at New York's Polo Grounds. The win by Three Finger leapfrogged the Chicago Cubs into first place, ever so briefly, one-half game ahead of The Big Six and his New York Giants. It was also a glimpse of so many decisive pitching duels to come, as Brown would often be pitted against Mathewson at the height of the National League pennant race.

It was exactly one year later, on June 13, 1905, however, that the two Hall of Fame Aces squared off in the most memorable pitchers duel in baseball history. Mordecai Brown, stingy as ever, pitched a gem, surrendering just one hit to the Giants, and that coming in a one-run ninth inning. Christy Mathewson -- not to be outdone -- answered his rival's challenge by holding the Cubs hitless throughout all nine innings to claim the win. Could you imagine being in the crowd at that baseball game, one of the most exciting in all major league history, with both Three Finger and The Big Six taking a no-hitter into the final frame? Now that's a major league pitchers duel. That's the stuff of a great rivalry. That was Mordecai Brown vs. Christy Mathewson.

After that historic date, a vengeful Mordecai Brown posted an impressive nine straight victories over his New York Giant rival. And he saved the best for last as the pennant race reached its fevered crescendo. Tied at the top of the league with matching 98-55 records, a tie-breaker was scheduled to determine who would advance to the World Series. The one-game playoff between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants took place on October 8, 1908, before a frenzied crowd of 35,000 at the Polo Grounds. With the flag at stake, Christy Mathewson faced Cubs starter Jack Pfiester, who, despite having earned the nickname of "Giant Killer," got knocked around for a couple runs early to be relieved by Mordecai Brown in the second inning. Three Finger held the Giants scoreless the rest of the way as the Cubs won the game, 4-2, en route to their second World Series title in as many years. Mordecai Brown had defeated Chrsity Mathewson in grand fashion to capture the National League flag.

The crowd of New York Giants fans had become outright hostile as they watched the pennant slip away. After Mordecai Brown finished off the last three Giants batters on a mere three pitches in the bottom of the ninth, the Chicago Cubs were literally running for the clubhouse -- and their lives -- with a crazed mob of embittered New York Giants fans hot on their tails. (Fans were allowed to exit the ballpark from the playing field in those days.) They needed a police escort to escape the Polo Grounds.

The final match up in this greatest pitching rivalry in major league history came on September 14, 1916. It would be the final mound appearance of either major league great, Mordecai Brown or Christy Mathewson, in their respective Hall of Fame careers. Christy Mathewson, finishing the season as the player-manager for the Cincinnati Reds, topped Mordecai Brown, who had returned for his swansong in a Chicago Cubs uniform, 10 to 8, in a game that was a far cry from the masterful pitchers duels of their rivalry's heyday. Brown gave up 19 hits, including three by Mathewson, who in turn surrendered 15 hits to the Cubs, with Brown's bat adding two to the tally. Clearly, both Aces had left their best stuff years behind.

The greatest pitching rivalry in the annals of major league baseball had thus ended. The Hall of Fame careers of Mordecai Brown and Christy Mathewson were over. How those two names -- Mordecai Brown to a New Yorker and Christy Mathewson to a Chicagoan -- must have instilled so much loathing, and at the same time, admiration, in the erstwhile fans of those major league cities of one century ago, one can only imagine.

Both Aces, "Three Finger" and "The Big Six," would be immortalized in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown -- and deservedly so. And, as for Mordecai Brown vs. Christy Mathewson ... Christy Mathewson vs. Mordecai Brown, well, sadly, you just don't witness anything to rival those legendary pitchers duels in the major league baseball of today.