Who was the better pitcher?

[Brian Van Horn]

Grover Cleveland Alexander of Christy Mathewson?

[Potomac Yank]

I would love to help you, but even at my age I never got to see either of them pitch.

[GrayGhost]

Me neither, tho some say I did. I would say from my reading however that Matty was, plus he's a folkhero in many eyes, etc, and the 3 shutouts in the 05 World Series will never be approached either.

[jacksons]

Great post - a tough call, really, when looking at the numbers.

I'm going with Mathewson. Although Pete had more shutouts and Triple Crowns, Matty may have been better:

1. Had a slight edge in winning .pct.
2. .5 run lower ERA
3. '05 Series performance
4. 400 more strikeouts
5. 4 more 20 win seasons

Other comparisons:

Mathewson:

1. World Series champion (1905)
2. 373 career wins (3rd all-time)
3. 2.13 career ERA (8th all-time)
4. 1.059 career WHIP (5th all time)
5. Won 20 games or more 13 times, won 30 games or more 4 times.
6. Pitched 79 shutouts (3rd all time)
7. Won NL Pitcher's Triple Crown in 1905 and 1908
8. Five-time ERA champion (1905, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1913)
9. Five-time strikeout champion (1903, 1904, 1905, 1907, 1908)
10. Pitched two no-hitters.
11. Name honored by the Giants.

Alexander:

1. 373 career wins (3rd all-time)
2. 2.56 career era (48th all-time)
3. 1.121 career whip (32nd all time)
4. Won 20 games or more 9 times, won 30 games or more 3 times.
5. Pitched 90 shutouts (2nd all time)
6. Won NL Pitcher's Triple Crown in 1915, 1916,1917 and 1920
7. World Series champion (1926)
8. National League pennants (1915), (1918)

[ChrisStufflestreet]

Since I was born in 1972, both men had passed away long before I was around.

However, I'd like to point out one similarity between the two: both went to France for WW1 and brought home issues that would plague them for the rest of their lives.

Captain Mathewson was a trainer with the Army Chemical Warfare Service. During a readiness drill in Chaumont with 80 soldiers, a poor warning was given before mustard gas was dropped into the chamber and several men died. Both instructors (Mathewson and Ty Cobb) survived, but the event made them both ill for a few days. Cobb had some discharge from his lungs for a few days but Mathewson took loner to get over it. Then, before leaving France, Mathewson caught the flu during a pandemic where influenza killed more Americans than the War's fighting did. Mathewson's health was never the same, and he died young from tuberculosis.

As for Sgt. Alexander, he was assigned to the artillery. While working around the big guns and the constant noise and having some near hits from German return fire, Alexander suffered hearing loss and was soon diagnosed with epilepsy. The shell shock from his time in the trenches likely led "Alex" to hit the bottle more heavily once he returned Stateside. Today, the general populace understands that wartime service often results in post-traumatic stress issues but in the 1920s, the guys who'd served in the Great War were expected to get over their demons quietly; his drinking was seen as a sign of weakness in an era where booze was illegal.

On the field, I'd give the edge to Matty; however, there is a big difference between the two pitchers. One had finished his career before the War and the other returned to continue afterward. Alexander had put up some gaudy numbers just before the War...it's not known if he'd have had a better record if he returned without the problems he brought back from France. Similarly, what would Matty's record look like had WW1 broken out 8-9 years into his career?

[drc]

Mathewson is almost always ranked higher in the various polls and lists.