Negro Leaguer of the Month
June, 2001

Verdell Mathis
Position: Pitcher
Career: 1940-1950
Teams: Memphis Red Sox, Philadelphia Stars

HT: 5'-10"; WT: 150 lbs
batted and threw left
Born: November 18, 1914, Crawfordsville, Arkansas

Verdell Mathis was the Negro League's top lefthanded pitcher of the 1940s, but because he played in the South for the Memphis Red Sox he never got the credit he deserved.

Mathis, small in stature, was a money pitcher along the lines of Whitey Ford. He had a good fastball, a screwball, straight change and good control. He was also known for a terrific pickoff move.

Mathis was one of 10 children, and from early on baseball was his passion. Moving to Memphis as a young child, Mathis followed the Memphis Red Sox closely but idolized Satchel Paige. Years later he would beat Satchel several times head to head, including a 2-1 victory against Paige on "Satchel Paige Day" in Chicago. He also pitched with Satchel Paige's All-Stars against Bob Feller's All-Stars in the 40s.

In 1940 Reuben Jones was named manager of the Red Sox and one of the first players he signed was Mathis who he had seen pitch many times in semipro ball.

Mathis started out as a pretty good outfielder. He hit well, had good speed and had a great arm. His pitching soon overshadowed his hitting, though, and he became a pitcher for good in his first year with the Red Sox.

Besides playing in the South where publicity was slim, the Memphis Red Sox were owned by the Martin brothers, known to be the cheapest in the Negro Leagues.

W.S. Martin, J.B Martin and B.B. Martin, all dentists, owned the ballpark the Red Sox played in, a hotel next to the park and other real estate. Despite their wealth, they paid there players very low--they originally offered Mathis $65 a month but Mathis held out for $125.

Martin Park was oddly shaped and was a great pitcher's park, with the left field line being 477 feet from home and center field being 366 feet away.

Sam Brown, publicity man for the Red Sox for years named his all-time Memphis All-Star team and Mathis was on the pitching staff along with Double Duty Radcliffe and Carl Glass.

Mathis pitched and won back to back East-West games in 1944 and 1945. In '44 he gave up 3 hits in 3 innings and won when Double Duty homered with two men on base. In '45 Mathis struck out 4 men and singled twice himself to pick up the win. He thus is the only pitcher besides--you guessed it--Satchel Paige, with two East-West victories.