The Little Steam Engine with a Huge Legacy

Hey baseball fans!

I’m sure you all know about who  Cy Young  is, the winningest pitcher in baseball history in a time when Major League Baseball was in its infancy. But there was a pitcher who might have been just as good and pitched even earlier than Cy did. He is in the Hall of Fame with the fifth most wins of all time:  James Francis “Pud” Galvin !

Galvin played from 1875-1892 with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, Buffalo Bisons, Pittsburgh Alleghenys, Pittsburgh Burghers, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Browns. Because he played in such an early era, James became baseball’s first ever 300-game winner, winning 365 games and losing 310. He also had a very good career ERA at 2.85, 121st of all time (I didn’t realize that there are so many pitchers with really good career ERAs below 2.85).

Galvin got his nickname, Pud, because his pitching windup apparently transformed batters into pudding. That’s pretty cool! His other nickname, The Little Steam Engine, was given to him because he was a tireless worker with an excellent pickoff move. He also was only 5′ 8″ tall, but was a solid 190 pounds. The man with many nicknames won 20 or more games in ten seasons and won 40 or more games twice! When he finally called it quits, he led all pitchers in wins, innings pitched, games started, games completed and shutouts.

Pud is definitely a man of firsts, as he was also the first pitcher ever to pitch a no-hitter on the road (he achieved this feat on August 20, 1880). In reality, he was the first great pitcher in baseball history, even before Cy Young! Anyway, thanks for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it and check back again soon for more of “all the buzz on what wuzz.”