Bayshore history tales: Hall of Fame pitcher, unfortunate vice president and the atom bomb
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Matt Ward was doing book research in the Monmouth County Historical Association’s archives, seeking Sandy Hook photos, when he came across a photo that stopped him in his tracks.
It depicted Christy Mathewson, one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history, wearing a uniform that read “Keyport” across the chest.
Intrigued, Ward searched contemporary newspaper accounts and found a report of the right-hander hurling a one-hit, 15-strikeout gem in a 2-0 victory over a team from Matawan. Incredibly, this game took place in September 1904 — toward the end of Mathewson’s fourth season with the National League's New York Giants, for which he posted a record of 33 wins and 12 losses in a year the team won the pennant.
“He was more or less a ringer,” Ward said of the Keyport appearance. “There were these wealthy guys who would put together these teams from Keyport and Matawan for exhibition baseball games. Keyport and Matawan had this intense town rivalry.”
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It’s unfathomable today that the ace of the Yankees or Mets would spend an off day during the season pitching in a sandlot game, but those were vastly different times.
“If he had the opportunity to make money, I’m sure he would have taken that,” Ward said.
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The photo made its way in the book Ward co-authored along with Matawan historian Al Savolaine titled “The Raritan Bayshore.” It’s part of the “Images of America” series by Arcadia Publishing. Just released this week, it’s 127 pages of historical photos and captions regarding 15 New Jersey towns situated along the Raritan Bay — from Highlands to Perth Amboy.
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There are sections on historic buildings, churches, schools, monuments and parks; notable people in politics, the military, science, sports and the arts; and images of disasters and tragedies (including the Matawan shark attacks of 1916, the Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck in Woodbridge in 1951 and the Nike missile base explosion in Middletown in 1958).
There are obscure but fascinating nuggets, too. Even someone who follows local history might not know that a Matawan-based engineer named Wesley F. Hall achieved a crucial breakthrough in the development of the atomic bomb.
Working for the manufacturing plant Hanson-Van Winkle-Munning, Hall developed a strip-plating process that would help metal co-exist with the bomb’s elements — a hurdle that had stumped designers of the Manhattan Project.
“That is a classic example of local history that gets lost over the course of time,” Ward said. “His work helped bring an end to World War II. Even though he might be a controversial figure because of his help in developing a weapon of mass destruction, it’s strange that he is not really acknowledged. My family goes back generations in Matawan and Aberdeen, and I only learned about him in the last six years.”
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Growing up in Matawan’s public schools, Ward also didn’t learn that a vice president of the United States attended school in the borough. Garret Hobart, who served as President William McKinley’s first vice president from 1897-1899, attended the private Middletown Point Academy (later renamed Glenwood Institute) on Church Street.
Born in Long Branch and raised in Marlboro, Hobart died in office of heart disease in November 1899. He was just 55 years old. Replacing him for McKinley’s second term was Theodore Roosevelt, who ascended to the presidency when McKinley was assassinated in 1901.
Instead of becoming the world’s most powerful man, Hobart is a historical footnote on page 33 of the book.
“Talk about a bad hand of cards,” Ward said.
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Hobart's old school closed in 1915, but the building is still standing.
“It went from being a school to now apartments and condos,” Ward said.
The book is filled with scores of similar photographic tidbits, such as:
The bluff in Perth Amboy from which Ben Franklin and John Adams rowed to Staten Island for unsuccessful Revolutionary War peace talks with British generals.
The country club in the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge frequented by movie stars and British royalty.
Cliffwood Beach’s bustling resorts of the 1920s
The Holmdel-based astronomer whose Nobel Prize-winning discovery supported the Big Bang model of creation.
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The book’s introduction describes the northernmost stretch of the Jersey Shore as a region “rich in history, nature and recreation.” This pictorial walk through its stories leaves no doubt about it.
Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bayshore NJ history celebrated in new 'Images of America' book
