Mathews was born in 1851, in Baltimore, Maryland, and he played as a teenager with the Maryland club of that city, and he made the team a dangerous one. Mathews began his career at the age of 16 for the Marylands of Baltimore (a junior squad) in 1868. A year later, he moved to the senior club, and the following year the club declared themselves professional, resulting in the creation of the National Association of Base Ball Players (NAABP). On August 19, he made his first ever start in the league against the Orientals of New York, winning 28-15. For the 1871 season, he and some other Maryland players signed with the Fort Wayne Kekiongas. On May 4, 1871 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he pitched a shutout in the inaugural game of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA), the first professional league. In his first season, he went 6-11 in 19 complete games and 169 innings, with a 5.17 ERA, 17 strikeouts and 21 walks. In the following season (now playing for the Baltimore Canaries), he rebounded with a 25-18 record in 49 games (while throwing 39 complete games) and 406 innings while having a 3.19 ERA, 52 walks and 57 strikeouts, the latter being a league high. He appeared as a batter in 19 games for 89 at-bats, batting .270 with 10 RBIs and a .612 OPS, with the latter two being career highs. Mathews went to the New York Mutuals alongside teammate Dick Higham after the season ended. \n', '

In 1873, he played in 52 out of the 53 games the team played for the season (while throwing 47 complete games), going 29-23 with a 2.58 ERA in 443 innings with 62 walks (a career high) and 79 strikeouts, although the team finished 4th. One notable game was on July 3, when he allowed only two hits in a six inning rain-shortened game against Washington while scoring a run on a triple in a 2-1 win. However, research in recent years has alleged match-fixing over suspicious play during a game in the season. In a game on August 9, 1873, he was the losing pitcher in a 12-2 washout by the Brooklyn Atlantics in which they scored four runs to open up the game in the first inning. \n', '

For 1874, he pitched in all 65 games of the season for the Mutuals (while throwing 62 complete games), throwing 578 innings while having a 42-22 record and a 1.90 ERA (a career low), 41 walks and 101 strikeouts, although the Mutuals finished 2nd place to the Boston Red Stockings. He also threw 32 wild pitches, a career high. On June 18, he pitched in a 38-1 victory over Chicago while allowing two hits in a game with severe wind conditions. A second accusation of match-fixing occurred in the season, as one player was seen in the company of a gambler in the area of Chicago on the August 5 home game, where the odds shifted towards Chicago. Mathews left in the fifth inning on a groin injury while leading 4-2, with John Hatfield serving to pitch the rest of the game and losing the game 5-4. After the game, it was revealed that Chicago had known the possibility of Mathews not playing due to a doctor\'s note the Mutuals produced certifying his play despite a warning.\n', '

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