Christy Mathewson, along with fellow players Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, and Honus Wagner, was the first class elected into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936 (per MLB News). En route to this achievement, Mathewson spent 17 years as a pitcher, with all but one season with the New York Giants (per Baseball Almanac). His 373 wins are third all-time and tied for first in the National League (via MLB Hall of Fame). This powerful right-hander was a force on the mound, appearing in 635 games and throwing 434 complete games. Mathewson tossed 79 shutouts in his career, which Baseball-Reference states places him third behind Walter Johnson (110) and Pete Alexander (90). 

Mathewson ended his legendary baseball career at the end of the 1916 season, his only year in a Cincinnati Reds uniform. In 1918, he enlisted in the United States Army and began his service as a captain. He and fellow MLB players Ty Cobb, Branch Rickey, and George Sisler were training recruits on how to properly put on gas masks during chemical attacks when the unexpected occurred (per Yahoo News). 

Mathewson, Cobb, and dozens of recruits were accidentally gassed before they were ready. Though he survived the incident, Mathewson developed tuberculosis as a result. His health lingered until he passed away in 1925 at the age of 45 (per MLB Hall of Fame). His final resting place is at the Lewisburg Cemetery in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (via Uncovering Pennsylvania). 

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