I stand corrected my greatgrandkids just informed me he won 46 games twice in his career and 35 once and 20 a lot of other times. He was a farm boy from Missouri and it must have been like milking the cows pitching on the mound, only a days work, and he did it for over 14 years. My hats off to Mr Galvin and the like..................
Old Man, you say all the things that I like to hear. :D Seriously, though, he was an amazing pitcher. I certainly don't believe that anabolic steroids = monkey testosterone. What I find interesting is that the contemporary references to Pud's use of it were complimentary - as in "look what this guy's willing to do to be a better player." To me, this raises a very interesting question. We put stuff in our bodies to "enhance our performance" all the time. Heck, I eat outmeal and blueberries pretty regularly because they are antioxidents and they've helped me address some cholesterol problems. This is clearly not the same as taking steroids either. I guess what I'm wondering about, though I didn't ask that question here (and I'm trying to find an answer through researching performance enhancers throughout baseball history) is "where is the line between a legal and an illegal substance in baseball?"
Joey, I think that at the time he played there was a lot of jealous on the part of other pitchers. 46 wins two years in a row, and someone comes up with monkey testosterone, give me a break. According to my grandfather and father there were pitchers in the late 1800's and early 1900's that could and did pitch for what it seemed like, forever, day in and day out...Innings after innings and they didn't eat like they do today...You won't find any performance enhancers throughout baseball history because until the last 15 years there wasn't any. DMSO was used by Koufax and ice was applied to his arms after games and he iced them between innings. After that it became standard in MLB to ice pitchers arms sometimes before, during and after games. Ryan was noted for it as was most of the fast ball pitchers of this era. DMSO is a heat substance that allows tranfer of heat faster than just bengay. But it is extremely dangerous if not used properly and trust me if you get cold water on it just after you apply it it really hurts big time.. I have eaten rasberries, strawberries, blueberries and pomogantes my entire life over 88 years and that has only helped me maybe to live as long as I have. Steriods are an illegal substance used to enhance your performance on the field of play artifically. Berries et al are natural substances that help to keep your body functioning by means of natural ways. But I know what you mean..Andro and all the man-made drugs are cheaping plain and simple and if they want to stop it then if you get caught with them in your blood stream then you are gone from baseball and all the big money... Believe me if they did that then it would stop real fast. No baseball playing no MONEY>>>>>>and I am not harping on the money is the only driving force idea here. Even if they were paid at a lower scale if you couldn't play the game you wouldn't have a job and therefore no salary no money no making a living.
I believe the steroids Galvin used came from the testosterone of goats, not monkeys. Or so said the newspaper reports of the time. I doubt Galvin was the first baseball player to use the stuff, however. As long as there is competition, there are performance enhancing drugs. That goes back to the ancient Greek Olympics.
