A review by alanfederman
Pitching in a Pinch: or Baseball from the Inside by Christy Mathewson, Eric Rolfe Greenberg

4.0

I loved this book! Christy Mathewson is arguably one of the best pitchers to ever "twirl" (his expression, not mine). He writes about the game of baseball in the early part of the twentieth century with joy of a child. Much of the game has changed - spit balls are illegal, players are over-paid, and teams take planes instead of trains. However, much has stayed the same - the strategy, the jinxes, and rivalries. What I really enjoyed is that "Matty" had no filter - no one could get away with this today - he calls Honus Wagner a "bow-legged Dutchman" (which I assume was quite an insult at the time), he quotes his famous manager, John McGraw as saying, "the only good umpire is a dead umpire", and he refers to a rival player as having a "spine like a charlotte russe" (which I'm not sure if that's good or bad). My favorite quote: "All coaching, like all Gaul and four or five other things, is divided into three parts..." Awesome!