| Pud Galvin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| Born: December 25, 1856 | |
| MLB Debut | |
| May 22, 1875 for the St. Louis Brown Stockings (NA) | |
| Final game | |
| August 2, 1892 for the St. Louis Brown Stockings (NL) | |
| Career Statistics | |
| Win-Loss record | 360-308 |
| ERA | 2.86 |
| Strikeouts | 1,806 |
| Teams | |
| Career Highlights and Awards | |
| |
James Francis "Pud" Galvin (December 25, 1856 – March 7, 1902), an American professional baseball pitcher, was Major League Baseball's first 300-game winner. The nickname "Pud" supposedly originated because he made the hitters "look like PUDding", a popular phrase in the 1880s (like having "legs of jello" when you see a nasty looking pitch heading your way). Galvin was also nicknamed "The Little Steam Engine" in tribute to his durability.
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Pud played in an era where 2-man pitching rotations were common - hence his 6,003 innings pitched and 646 complete games, both of which are second only to the career totals of Cy Young. Incredibly, Pud pitched over 70 complete games in both 1883 and 1884 and 65 in 1879. He is the only player in baseball history to win 20 or more games in 10 different years without winning a pennant, finishing his career with a total of 360 wins and 308 losses. He was the first pitcher to win 300 games, and Galvin led in 19th century wins.
Galvin pitched for St Louis (NA), Buffalo in the International Association and NL; Pittsburgh or Allegheny, Pennsylvania in the IA, AA, NL, and PL; and St Louis (NL).
On August 20, 1880, Galvin became the first major league pitcher to throw a no-hitter on the road, leading his Buffalo Bisons to a 1-0 victory over the Worcester Worcesters.
Galvin is the first baseball player to be widely known for using performance enhancing drugs. In 1889, over 100 years before the current steroid controversy in Major League Baseball, he was known to have injected monkey testosterone before pitching.[1]
Pud Galvin died at age 45, on March 7, 1902 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Allegheny, Pennsylvania and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965 by the Veterans Committee (onkly selection that year).
Notes[]
- ↑ "A different kind of performance enhancer http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5314753
See also[]
- 300 win club
- Top 100 winning pitchers of all time
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
- List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
External links[]
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Baseball-Reference.com - Major league career statistics
- Career statistics from Major League Baseball web site
- PudGalvin.com - site dedicated to the Hall of Fame pitcher
- Bio page
Template:300 win club