Review of "Baseball's First Superstar"

Ever pick up a book thinking it was going to be of a certain type, only to find out while reading it that it wasn't at all what you expected?  That was the case for me with this book on Christy Matthewson - but even with that, it turned out to be all right.  Here is my review.

Title/Author:

“Baseball’s First Superstar: The Lost Life Story of Christy Matthewson” by Alan D. Gaff

Rating: 

3 of 5 stars (good)

Review:

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 20^th 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 20^th 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.

Link: Baseball's First Superstar: The Lost Life Story of Christy Mathewson: Gaff, Alan D.: 9781496243270: Amazon.com: Books