![\"Matthewson\"](\"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Christy_Matthewson.jpg\")
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World War I required U.S. citizens from all walks of life to take up arms and serve in the U.S. Army. Their sacrifices at home and in the battlefields across the Atlantic allowed the U.S. to strengthen its military might to fight alongside Allies in Europe. Among those valiant citizens who joined the fight were 227 major league ballplayers who served on the battlefields or in stateside defense ministries. Their names included Hall of Famers and star players of the deadball era like Ty Cobb, George Sisler, Eddie Collins, Branch Rickey, Tris Speaker and Casey Stengel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most notable was Christy Matthewson, whose lifetime 373 wins 2,502 strikeouts and 2.13 ERA are among the greatest in history. After ending his illustrious pitching career in 1916, he became manager of the Cincinnati Reds, and in 1918, Matthewson volunteered for service with the U.S. Army\u2019s new Chemical Warfare Services, with the rank of Captain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Army literature declares \u201cThe CWS was created in response to Germany\u2019s use of chlorine gas in Belgium, beginning in April 1915. The U.S. had not explored chemical weaponry before, but saw the need to understand chemical warfare. The U.S. Department of War developed the CWS in June 1918, aiming to develop both offensive munitions and defensive equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among those defensive devices under development was the gas mask, intended to keep fighting forces alive while under attack from German chemical warfare. Along with Sisler, Rickey and Cobb, Christy actively tested those gas masks under development. After arriving in Chaumont, France, Mathewson and fellow soldiers participated in training activities. During one training drill with live chemical gas, CWS soldiers were sequestered in a concrete room. Cobb wrote. “We weren’t fooling around with simulated death when we entered those gas chambers. The stuff we turned loose was the McCoy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthewson sat next to Cobb, awaiting the signal to don the gas masks. Several soldiers missed hearing the signal, and Cobb and Mathewson were among those who delayed deploying their protective masks before the gas was set off. As gas filled the chamber, the soldiers rushed to escape the training room. Cobb recalled that \u201ctrying to lead the men out was hopeless\u2026 it was each one for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the incident, Matthewson removed his mask, turned to Cobb and said, \u201cTy, I got a good dose of the stuff.\u201d While Cobb suffered few effects from his exposure, Matthewson\u2019s lungs were damaged. Eight soldiers died from the gas exposure in that room, and eight more were incapacitated. Matty was in the hospital for Armistice Day and beyond. Once Matthewson was able to travel, he was sent stateside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cobb later described the incident with these ominous words: “I saw Christy Mathewson doomed Matty rejoined his close friend and manager John McGraw with the New York Giants as a coach in 1919, but was plagued by a persistent cough. It was more than bronchitis, and enough to cause McGraw to wake up from his sleep and pace the floor with worry for his dear friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Late in the summer of 1920, a doctor diagnosed Matthewson with terminal tuberculosis. Christy, along with his wife Jane and their son, moved to Saranac Lake, where they lived in a custom-built home to be near the sanitarium. Matthewson showed signs of improvement, and in 1922, he joined the front office of the Boston Braves to rebuild that flailing franchise. His recovery was short-lived, and in 1923, he went back to the sanitarium in Saranac Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthewson died October 7, 1925 as a result of the affliction caused by his service to our nation in World War I. His sacrifice, and that of the other soldiers in the CWS, saved many lives in Europe. On Memorial Day, nearly 100 years after his death, we pay tribute to a true American hero, Christy Matthewson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n -30-<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" World War I required U.S. citizens from all walks of life to take up arms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,28,48,66],"tags":[53,141,138,140,137,139,142],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-inspiration","category-interesting-people","category-life","tag-baseball","tag-chemical-warfare","tag-christy-matthewson","tag-john-mcgraw","tag-memorial-day","tag-ty-cobb","tag-world-war-i"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":482,"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions\/482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Matthewson](\"https:\/\/adventureaday.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Christy_Matthewson-ty_cobb.jpg\")
to die. The rider on the pale horse passed his way.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n