1910 NL Mathewson Award

The Cubs returned to the World Series after a one-year hiatus. They won the pennant handily, notching 104 victories during the season; it was their fourth pennant in the past five years. The World Series was not a pleasant experience, however, as the Cubbies were destroyed by the Philadelphia Athletics. The Cubs had the best pitching staff of the decade, and were tops again this year; but they were completely ineffective in the Series, as the Athletics scored an average of seven runs per game.

1910 National League Pitchers

		WN	LS	GP	GS	CG	SH	SV	IP	HIT	BB	SO	ERA
C MATHEWSON	NY	27	9	38	35	27	2	0	318	292	60	184	190
M BROWN	CHI	25	14	46	31	27	6	7	295	256	64	143	186
K COLE	CHI	20	4	33	29	21	4	1	240	174	130	114	180
B ADAMS	PIT	18	9	34	30	16	3	0	245	217	60	101	224
D CRANDALL	NY	17	4	42	18	13	2	5	208	194	43	73	255
E MOORE	PHI	22	15	46	35	18	7	0	283	228	121	185	258
G SUGGS	CIN	20	12	35	30	23	3	3	266	248	48	91	240
N RUCKER	BRO	17	18	41	39	27	6	0	320	293	84	147	258

         The Cubs' ace was Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown; once again, he and Christy Mathewson were the top pitchers in the league. It's a very close call between the two; Matty had a better record, though Brown had more shutouts and saves. An argument could be made either way, but I will take Mathewson, if only because he had more wins and fewer losses.
        As mentioned earlier, the Cubs' pitching staff had been the best in the league for several years. This season, two of their stars, Orval Overall and Ed Reulbach, started to go into decline; but the Cubbies were saved by a brilliant rookie named Leonard Leslie "King" Cole. King Cole was only 24 years old; he had pitched in one game for the Cubs in 1909, and threw a shutout.
         Having passed that audition, Cole got a regular job this year. I can't say that I know very much about The King; he didn't have very good control, but he was sure tough to hit. In 1911 he struggled a bit, but still managed to win 18 games. In 1912 he was terrible, was traded to Pittsburgh, and won only three games all season. His career ended in 1915; he died in 1916, at age 30.
        I think the top three pitchers were Mathewson, Brown, and Cole; the fourth best was probably Pittsburgh ace Babe Adams. Other pitchers who had good seasons were Doc Crandall, Earl Moore, and George Suggs. Crandall and Suggs were both solid pitchers who had their best seasons in the Federal League. Moore was a journeyman, but had a good career, and won 162 games. His nicknames were "Big Ebbie" and "Crossfire".