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Baseball's First Superstar: The Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson
A collection of writings about early baseball star Christy Mathewson, including several recently discovered, unpublished chapters written by Mathewson himself.
248 pages, Hardcover
Published May 1, 2025
8 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Alan D. Gaff
17 books16 followersI am an historian and author. My latest book, "Field of Corpses: Arthur St. Clair and the Death of an American Army" is out now.
Other recent books include the bestselling "Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir," "Amid the Ruins: Damon Runyon: World War I Reports from the Trenches," and "From the Halls of the Montezumas: Mexican War Dispatches from James L. Freaner."
Some of my other books are "Bayonets in the Wilderness," "Blood in the Argonne," "On Many A Bloody Field," "Ordered West," and "A Corporal's Story."
I am also the President of Historical Investigations, a company specializing in historical and genealogical research.
Be sure to follow me on Good Reads and other social media for blog posts, updates, and other information about history and writing.
Other recent books include the bestselling "Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir," "Amid the Ruins: Damon Runyon: World War I Reports from the Trenches," and "From the Halls of the Montezumas: Mexican War Dispatches from James L. Freaner."
Some of my other books are "Bayonets in the Wilderness," "Blood in the Argonne," "On Many A Bloody Field," "Ordered West," and "A Corporal's Story."
I am also the President of Historical Investigations, a company specializing in historical and genealogical research.
Be sure to follow me on Good Reads and other social media for blog posts, updates, and other information about history and writing.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 10, 2025
First, thank you to Alan Gaff and the University of Nebraska Press for allowing me an advanced copy of his new book Baseball's First Superstar: The Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson.
Before you read this book, you do need to understand that is more a relic and an academic work than a modern biography. Gaff does include a few chapters breaking down parts of baseball in Christy Mathewson's time, as well as introducing the reporter (Bozeman Bulger) whose writing makes up the majority of this book. Most of this book is a compilation of writings from Bulger, Mathewson's wife Jane, and a few chapters from Mathewson himself. As a modern biography, or even semi-autobiography, in a post-Ball Four/Bronx Zoo era, there's not a lot of actual substance to the book. Bulger (and Jane, obviously) basically writes a hagiography to his Mathewson, his friend and former roommate. That's understandable. In Mathewson's day, he was projected as a clean, all-American hero. The ideal that all boys should strive to be. Bulger's writing definitely tries to continue that vein of "Mathewson never took a wrong step," stretching to a hilarious degree when claiming that the harm of smoking is arguable at best (Bulger died in 1932, so please forgive him for not quite being up on the science).
The chapters Mathewson writes are definitely more detailed and entertaining because he prefers talking more about baseball and less about making himself into a hero. But there's not a ton of substance to it.
But again, this isn't really a fair assessment of the book. It's an academic work, a recovery of a primary voice from the 1920s. It reads as if it's written in the 1920s.
Gaff's work of compiling these writings into a coherent contemporary narrative is fascinating. A lot of baseball literature from this time reads almost exactly like Bulger's account. Players who can do no wrong. Little suspense because they are never in trouble. That's not on Gaff to go back 96 years and be like, hey, it's a little much.
So, as a fun read, probably not going to be your cup of tea unless you've literally never read a book about baseball before. But as an archival piece of evidence of writing from Mathewson's contemporaries, it's interesting.
Is it the best baseball book I've ever read? No. But again, I don't think it's completely meant to be more than a primary source from Mathewson's time.
Before you read this book, you do need to understand that is more a relic and an academic work than a modern biography. Gaff does include a few chapters breaking down parts of baseball in Christy Mathewson's time, as well as introducing the reporter (Bozeman Bulger) whose writing makes up the majority of this book. Most of this book is a compilation of writings from Bulger, Mathewson's wife Jane, and a few chapters from Mathewson himself. As a modern biography, or even semi-autobiography, in a post-Ball Four/Bronx Zoo era, there's not a lot of actual substance to the book. Bulger (and Jane, obviously) basically writes a hagiography to his Mathewson, his friend and former roommate. That's understandable. In Mathewson's day, he was projected as a clean, all-American hero. The ideal that all boys should strive to be. Bulger's writing definitely tries to continue that vein of "Mathewson never took a wrong step," stretching to a hilarious degree when claiming that the harm of smoking is arguable at best (Bulger died in 1932, so please forgive him for not quite being up on the science).
The chapters Mathewson writes are definitely more detailed and entertaining because he prefers talking more about baseball and less about making himself into a hero. But there's not a ton of substance to it.
But again, this isn't really a fair assessment of the book. It's an academic work, a recovery of a primary voice from the 1920s. It reads as if it's written in the 1920s.
Gaff's work of compiling these writings into a coherent contemporary narrative is fascinating. A lot of baseball literature from this time reads almost exactly like Bulger's account. Players who can do no wrong. Little suspense because they are never in trouble. That's not on Gaff to go back 96 years and be like, hey, it's a little much.
So, as a fun read, probably not going to be your cup of tea unless you've literally never read a book about baseball before. But as an archival piece of evidence of writing from Mathewson's contemporaries, it's interesting.
Is it the best baseball book I've ever read? No. But again, I don't think it's completely meant to be more than a primary source from Mathewson's time.
August 29, 2025
The first thing that must be said about Alan Gaff’s Baseball’s First Superstar is that it isn’t a biography of Christy Mathewson—at least not in the traditional sense. This is more along the lines of Gaff discovering and then sprucing up an old manuscript/bio of Matty from sportswriter contemporary (and friend) Bozeman Bulger. But I do still think there are some fascinating angles from this approach—they will just be tailored to the hard-core baseball (especially Dead Ball-era) fan.
When you begin reading Baseball’s First Superstar, you might think “is this the correct book?”. This is because Gaff begins with an overview of the early-20th century sportswriting scene. While odd, this section is necessary to understand how Bulger’s bio came to be. Then, there is a section comparing Mathewson’s notoriety with that of contemporaries like Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, & Babe Ruth—ostensibly showing that Matty belongs in such rarified air.
With the table-setting out of the way, Gaff presents Bulger’s biography—cleaned up here and there with explanation of who is voicing what thoughts. Somewhat predictably—both for the context of the era and the nature of Bulger’s relationship with Mathewson—it is primarily a “puff piece”, building Christy’s legend. Normally this wouldn’t be all that interesting and perhaps even outright suspect—except for the fact that in this case, subsequent impartial bios of Mathewson have shown him to need little-to-no legacy-scrubbing or harboring no skeletons in the closet. In short: Christy was likely the exact logical, good-natured, soft-spoken, clean-living gentleman that Bulger portrays.
It is also fascinating to hear primary-source thoughts on Matty’s career from himself, his wife Jane, and Bulger’s own editorializing/interviews. Just reading how players of that era viewed the sport of baseball (and hilariously how there was still “back in my day” takes even then!) is enough to make this book worthwhile reading for the seam-heads.
Overall, I’d give Baseball’s First Superstar 3.5 stars if able. My guess is that it will be disappointing (perhaps highly so) to amateur baseball fans/historians because of its odd format and non-bio-dressed-up-as-bio marketing. But as a genuine, primary-source look into the past of MLB’s Dead Ball era and Christy Mathewson in particular, it was fascinating enough for me to bump it up to 4 stars.
When you begin reading Baseball’s First Superstar, you might think “is this the correct book?”. This is because Gaff begins with an overview of the early-20th century sportswriting scene. While odd, this section is necessary to understand how Bulger’s bio came to be. Then, there is a section comparing Mathewson’s notoriety with that of contemporaries like Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, & Babe Ruth—ostensibly showing that Matty belongs in such rarified air.
With the table-setting out of the way, Gaff presents Bulger’s biography—cleaned up here and there with explanation of who is voicing what thoughts. Somewhat predictably—both for the context of the era and the nature of Bulger’s relationship with Mathewson—it is primarily a “puff piece”, building Christy’s legend. Normally this wouldn’t be all that interesting and perhaps even outright suspect—except for the fact that in this case, subsequent impartial bios of Mathewson have shown him to need little-to-no legacy-scrubbing or harboring no skeletons in the closet. In short: Christy was likely the exact logical, good-natured, soft-spoken, clean-living gentleman that Bulger portrays.
It is also fascinating to hear primary-source thoughts on Matty’s career from himself, his wife Jane, and Bulger’s own editorializing/interviews. Just reading how players of that era viewed the sport of baseball (and hilariously how there was still “back in my day” takes even then!) is enough to make this book worthwhile reading for the seam-heads.
Overall, I’d give Baseball’s First Superstar 3.5 stars if able. My guess is that it will be disappointing (perhaps highly so) to amateur baseball fans/historians because of its odd format and non-bio-dressed-up-as-bio marketing. But as a genuine, primary-source look into the past of MLB’s Dead Ball era and Christy Mathewson in particular, it was fascinating enough for me to bump it up to 4 stars.
January 15, 2026
One thing to keep in mind while reading Baseball’s First Superstar: The Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson is that over one hundred years ago, the relationship between sportswriters and the teams they covered was quite different from what it is now. Writers in that day and age had close relationships with the team and individual players and were complicit in not reporting anything that could prove embarrassing to the team or the individual.
That’s important because this book is not a modern biography of Christy Mathewson. Prior to his death from tuberculosis in 1925, he had begun work on an autobiography with the help of his wife, Jane, and sportswriter and close friend, Bozeman Bulger. This book reprints the results of that effort, which is often dated, as to be expected. However, it’s also lacking any negative about Mathewson. True, he was known as “The Gentleman” or “The Christian Gentleman” while he played, the “Christian” part coming from a promise to his mother not to play baseball on Sundays. It also seems that there was a dearth of players who had anything negative to say about Mathewson after his death.
The first few chapters are written by the author, Alan D. Gaff, as he makes his case for Christy Mathewson being considered baseball’s first superstar. He spends an inordinate amount of time on the lives of other players he considers to be possible holders of the title, Baseball’s First Superstar. This felt an awful lot like filler and wasn’t a great way to start the book. However, he also recalls the atmosphere of the times that led to the close relationship between sportswriters and the players they covered. This is important to understand as you consider the rest of the book.
To read my complete review, please go to Baseball’s First Superstar: The Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson by Alan D. Gaff – The Gentleman of Baseball’s Golden Era
That’s important because this book is not a modern biography of Christy Mathewson. Prior to his death from tuberculosis in 1925, he had begun work on an autobiography with the help of his wife, Jane, and sportswriter and close friend, Bozeman Bulger. This book reprints the results of that effort, which is often dated, as to be expected. However, it’s also lacking any negative about Mathewson. True, he was known as “The Gentleman” or “The Christian Gentleman” while he played, the “Christian” part coming from a promise to his mother not to play baseball on Sundays. It also seems that there was a dearth of players who had anything negative to say about Mathewson after his death.
The first few chapters are written by the author, Alan D. Gaff, as he makes his case for Christy Mathewson being considered baseball’s first superstar. He spends an inordinate amount of time on the lives of other players he considers to be possible holders of the title, Baseball’s First Superstar. This felt an awful lot like filler and wasn’t a great way to start the book. However, he also recalls the atmosphere of the times that led to the close relationship between sportswriters and the players they covered. This is important to understand as you consider the rest of the book.
To read my complete review, please go to Baseball’s First Superstar: The Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson by Alan D. Gaff – The Gentleman of Baseball’s Golden Era
January 13, 2026
As one of the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Christy Matthewson established himself as one of the finest pitchers in the early 20th century. This book by Alan D. Gaff is part a history of newspapers, part an argument to convince the reader that Matthewson was the first true superstar and mostly accounts written about the great pitcher by himself, his widow and sportswriter Bozeman Bulger.
It was puzzling to understand why Gaff opened the book with a history of newspapers and their coverage of baseball, but after reading the whole book, it made sense. It was a preface to the section of the book (the biggest one) where Bulger’s account of Matthewson’s life was included. This makes the book more of a reference or scholarly type of read instead of one that is a true biography of Matthewson. When taken into that context, this book is a good account of the “lost” stories about Matthewson.
Aside from what is in the writing from Bulger and Matthewson himself, the only true writing about baseball is Gaff’s chapter on why Matthewson should be considered baseball’s first true superstar. He compares Christy to the other four players enshrined with him on that initial ceremony in Cooperstown: Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner. The reader can decide for themselves whether this argument for Matthewson to hold the title is valid, but it did have some interesting information on all five baseball greats.
While I learned new information about Matthewson from this book, it did not come away to me as a great work, but I did enjoy reading the accounts of Matthewson himself and the stories told by Bulger. It’s a good book for those readers interested in early 20th century baseball.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
It was puzzling to understand why Gaff opened the book with a history of newspapers and their coverage of baseball, but after reading the whole book, it made sense. It was a preface to the section of the book (the biggest one) where Bulger’s account of Matthewson’s life was included. This makes the book more of a reference or scholarly type of read instead of one that is a true biography of Matthewson. When taken into that context, this book is a good account of the “lost” stories about Matthewson.
Aside from what is in the writing from Bulger and Matthewson himself, the only true writing about baseball is Gaff’s chapter on why Matthewson should be considered baseball’s first true superstar. He compares Christy to the other four players enshrined with him on that initial ceremony in Cooperstown: Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner. The reader can decide for themselves whether this argument for Matthewson to hold the title is valid, but it did have some interesting information on all five baseball greats.
While I learned new information about Matthewson from this book, it did not come away to me as a great work, but I did enjoy reading the accounts of Matthewson himself and the stories told by Bulger. It’s a good book for those readers interested in early 20th century baseball.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
January 6, 2025
You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at Mr. Book's Book Reviews.
Thank you, University of Nebraska Press, for providing this book for review consideration in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Mr. Book just finished Baseball’s First Superstar: The Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson, by Alan D. Gaff.
This book will be published on May 1, 2025.
I was expecting this book to be a good biography of Christy Mathewson. Instead, it turned out to subpar, mostly uninteresting hagiography. The bulk of the book is the “Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson”, which was the work of a sportswriter that Mathewson’s widow hired to write a book on him. We already know that baseball writers of that day were prone to making up stories, making up quotes, exaggerating feats and whitewashing any blemishes of their favorites. This particular sportswriter, Bozeman Bulger, showed he was a master of those tasks.
There were a few chapters that were written by Mathewson, that were found in his personal archives after he died. Those were more interesting than Bulger’s work and was the only thing that prevented this book from getting a failing grade.
I give this book a D. Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an D equates to 1 star. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).
This review has been posted at Goodreads and Mr. Book’s Book Reviews
Mr. Book finished reading this on January 6, 2025.
Thank you, University of Nebraska Press, for providing this book for review consideration in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Mr. Book just finished Baseball’s First Superstar: The Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson, by Alan D. Gaff.
This book will be published on May 1, 2025.
I was expecting this book to be a good biography of Christy Mathewson. Instead, it turned out to subpar, mostly uninteresting hagiography. The bulk of the book is the “Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson”, which was the work of a sportswriter that Mathewson’s widow hired to write a book on him. We already know that baseball writers of that day were prone to making up stories, making up quotes, exaggerating feats and whitewashing any blemishes of their favorites. This particular sportswriter, Bozeman Bulger, showed he was a master of those tasks.
There were a few chapters that were written by Mathewson, that were found in his personal archives after he died. Those were more interesting than Bulger’s work and was the only thing that prevented this book from getting a failing grade.
I give this book a D. Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an D equates to 1 star. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).
This review has been posted at Goodreads and Mr. Book’s Book Reviews
Mr. Book finished reading this on January 6, 2025.
April 11, 2025
Who was the first American sports superstar? It seems a bit like splitting hairs, but the author makes a pretty good case for Christy Mathewson. He compares Matty to fellow Hall of Fame inductees, Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Babe Ruth.
The book is divided into two parts. The first gives us a quick history into the newspaper business and its rise to prominence in New York and beyond. It tells of the emergence of the sports beat writer, evolving from sports reporters to the front page news. However, the second half of the book is the real gem. It's billed as "the lost life story of Christy Mathewson". Written as an obituary after Christy's death, it ran as a series in the newspapers as a final accurate salute to the man. The story is part autobiographical, written by Mathewson himself with content from his wife Jane with additional material from writer Bozeman Bulger, a personal friend of the Mathewsons.
As a reader of many of Mathewson's biographies, I find this new-old material very exciting. Bits and pieces of this article have come out over the years but when printed in its entirety, it paints a true picture of who the man was. For example, many authors may lead you to believe that Christy was aloof or uppity, but after reading this it clearly shows that he was a shy, private person who did not seek the spotlight, even though the limelight stalked him.
I highly recommend this book for baseball fans and non-baseball fans alike for a glimpse of the real person Mathewson was.
The book is divided into two parts. The first gives us a quick history into the newspaper business and its rise to prominence in New York and beyond. It tells of the emergence of the sports beat writer, evolving from sports reporters to the front page news. However, the second half of the book is the real gem. It's billed as "the lost life story of Christy Mathewson". Written as an obituary after Christy's death, it ran as a series in the newspapers as a final accurate salute to the man. The story is part autobiographical, written by Mathewson himself with content from his wife Jane with additional material from writer Bozeman Bulger, a personal friend of the Mathewsons.
As a reader of many of Mathewson's biographies, I find this new-old material very exciting. Bits and pieces of this article have come out over the years but when printed in its entirety, it paints a true picture of who the man was. For example, many authors may lead you to believe that Christy was aloof or uppity, but after reading this it clearly shows that he was a shy, private person who did not seek the spotlight, even though the limelight stalked him.
I highly recommend this book for baseball fans and non-baseball fans alike for a glimpse of the real person Mathewson was.
April 24, 2025
Over-all I was pretty disappointed with this "biography" of Christy Mathewson. As a life-long Giants fan and lover of baseball history, I was very excited to read this new look at Christy. What it turned out to be was an "old look" at Big Six (one of the great baseball nicknames of all time) because it was the "lost" autobiography of Christy written while he was dying from TB as well as remembrances of Christy from his long time friend and Giants' beat writer Bozeman Bulger and a few "chapters" written posthumously by Christy's wife.
The writing style and language, obviously, were early 20th century which is ponderous and therefore a little hard to enjoy. In addition, I really didn't like Gaff's opening comparisons of Christy's greatness and fan appeal to the other greats of his time. I felt they overtly prejudicial to the other players as critical, not only of their skills but also of their personal flaws which should not have been taken into consideration.
The writing style and language, obviously, were early 20th century which is ponderous and therefore a little hard to enjoy. In addition, I really didn't like Gaff's opening comparisons of Christy's greatness and fan appeal to the other greats of his time. I felt they overtly prejudicial to the other players as critical, not only of their skills but also of their personal flaws which should not have been taken into consideration.
May 30, 2025
I would have enjoyed this book, I think, if it were a biography of Christy Mathewson. Basically, this is a work in three parts:
1. An explication of what it was like to be a sportswriter in the early years of the twentieth century, which is perfectly well-written but not especially interesting and has little to do with Christy Mathewson.
2. Several brief biographical sketches of well-known players of the era who were not (let me emphasize this, not) Christy Mathewson.
3. The actual Mathewson biography, which is not (let me once again emphasize this, not) written by the author but by a contemporary newspaper reporter after Mathewson's death, and recovered by the author and reprinted.
So, this is more-or-less an academic work, the recovery of a lost piece of contemporary biography. Three stars only because I would have liked to have read a twenty-first century biography of Mathewson and didn't get it.
1. An explication of what it was like to be a sportswriter in the early years of the twentieth century, which is perfectly well-written but not especially interesting and has little to do with Christy Mathewson.
2. Several brief biographical sketches of well-known players of the era who were not (let me emphasize this, not) Christy Mathewson.
3. The actual Mathewson biography, which is not (let me once again emphasize this, not) written by the author but by a contemporary newspaper reporter after Mathewson's death, and recovered by the author and reprinted.
So, this is more-or-less an academic work, the recovery of a lost piece of contemporary biography. Three stars only because I would have liked to have read a twenty-first century biography of Mathewson and didn't get it.
July 22, 2025
I really enjoyed this book on Christy Mathewson. It’s not your typical biography, in so much as there are several different voices that contribute to the overall work. There are chapters written by Christy himself, a few chapters written by his wife, Jane, and the bulk of the writing about Christy comes from sportswriter, Bozeman Bulger, who was a friend to Christy for more than 20 years.
I thought Alan Gaff did a nice job of putting this information together in a way that gave the reader a good picture of Christy’s life in baseball. The insertion of quotes from other players, managers, and other sportswriters added to the overall picture he was trying to paint of Christy Mathewson as baseball’s first superstar.
Baseball lovers and historians alike will appreciate this book as a great picture of baseball life, and life in general, at the turn of the century into the pre- WW1 years.
I thought Alan Gaff did a nice job of putting this information together in a way that gave the reader a good picture of Christy’s life in baseball. The insertion of quotes from other players, managers, and other sportswriters added to the overall picture he was trying to paint of Christy Mathewson as baseball’s first superstar.
Baseball lovers and historians alike will appreciate this book as a great picture of baseball life, and life in general, at the turn of the century into the pre- WW1 years.
July 20, 2025
This book, for me, is the first time that I have read anything totally about Christy Mathewson; most of the time, his name is referenced in another book that I am reading about someone else. Here, the author gives you a look into his life before baseball, while playing baseball, and then after his time in WWI, and his problems with his lungs because he was exposed to gas. The author also puts his accomplishments up against Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner. All of those men had outstanding records, but after comparing them, I had to agree with Mathewson being the top, even though I don’t like to pick one player, but you can’t go against what he did, especially in the Series of 1905. An outstanding book with lots of research, and for a baseball fan, really worth the read.
April 25, 2025
This just might be the best baseball book I’ve ever read, which is no small claim since I’ve been reading baseball books since 1967 when I was eight years old. This is not your typical baseball biography filled with accolades and accomplishments of the player. Gaff has pulled together writings from sportswriter Bozeman Bulger, Mathewson’s widow, Jane, and Mathewson himself to provide an intimate portrait of a great baseball player who also happened to be an even finer person.
November 24, 2025
The book is a quick read…I had double check the title once I started reading. The book starts off talking about newspapers of the day shaping public opinions and then moves into ‘candidates for superstars’ (Hans Wagner, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson), I was like ‘damn are we ever gonna get to the subject of the book? I get why author presents this case, I just felt like way too long before jumping into Christy. I did enjoy the rest of book and stepping back in time to learn about Mathewson.
January 13, 2026
An informative book about old New York Giant star Christy Mathewson. The book also mentions sports writers of a bygone era. It was fascinating reading not only about Mathewson, but also about numerous other players of that time including Hans Wagner and Babe Ruth.
October 12, 2025
Although not a very good book, this is the only book I have ever read about Christy Mathewson.
December 28, 2025
Love Baseball History
A very moving story. Although I would have preferred that the story be more chronically and with more stats provided.
A very moving story. Although I would have preferred that the story be more chronically and with more stats provided.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews