Christy Mathewson Signed 1922 Check - PSA/DNA 9

• Sold For: $12,054
• Year: 1922
• Auction: 2019 May
• Lot #: 1
• Auction Category: Autographed Baseballs/Flats/Photos

A departure from the archetypal baseball player as the sport enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity, Christy Mathewson was embraced for both his gentlemanly Christian demeanor and his unparalleled pitching prowess. This check was signed by Mathewson as he sought to recover from a deadly gas exposure. Among the rarest and most historically significant Baseball Hall of Famer endorsements, this particular scripting is a decidedly bold example from a revered American hero. En route to a National League record 373 wins (since tied by Pete Alexander), Mathewson served as a role model on the diamond and off of it. Having contracted tuberculosis during a World War I training exercise, Mathewson returned to baseball first as a New York Giants coach (1919-1921) and as an executive in 1923. For the majority of the time between Mathewson’s military discharge and untimely death in 1925, he engaged in rest and recovery at his Saranac Lake, New York home, often referred to as the “Cure Cottage.” Encapsulated with Autograph Graded MINT 9 by PSA/DNA, this check is drawn from Mathewson’s account at the Adirondack National Bank. Dated “July 14 1922,” the voucher is made out to “Cash” in the amount of “50.00” (entirely in Mathewson’s hand). On the appropriate line, Mathewson has signed in black-ink steel tip fountain pen. The scripting is deserving of its lofty technical assessment and rates as one of the finest examples extant. The check has normal cancelation hole punchings, none of which affect Mathewson’s resplendent signature.