CHRISTY MATHEWSON AND SON | The charming, college-educated Mathewson was the idol of most youngsters growing up in turn-of-the-century New York. "What Mathewson didn't bring to the game's record books he brought to its image," Le Pacini wrote in The Hall of Fame Giants. "Before he came along, baseball players had the same social standing in America as actors and prostitutes. But Mathewson came from a different mold. He was a big, handsome, blue-eyed blond who reportedly didn't chew, smoke, drink or curse.... And he refused to play ball on the Sabbath. In the eyes of the public, Christy was the All-American boy, a man's man, yet the kid every mother would like her daughter to bring home. He was, in short, a symbol of clean living and sportsmanship, a role model for both kids and adults, a perfect amalgamation of guts and gentleness."

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