September 4, 1888: The Pittsburgh Alleghenys beat the Indianapolis Hoosiers, 5-4 at Athletic Park (later renamed Tinker Park) in Indianapolis. For Alleghenys pitcher Pud Galvin, it is the 300th win of his career. He is the 1st pitcher to win that many.
James Francis Galvin is born on a Christmas Day, December 25, 1856, in St. Louis. The Hall of Fame pitcher was nicknamed "Pud" because he was said to have "reduced hitters to pudding." No word on whether it was figgy pudding. He was also known as "Gentle Jeems" -- it's been a long time since men named James were nicknamed "Jem" or "Jeems" -- and "the Little Steam Engine," as he was 5-foot-8, and 190 pounds.
He won 365 games -- a total topped by only 4 pitchers ever -- for the Buffalo Bisons (who went out of business in 1885) and the Pittsburgh team that would be renamed the Pirates before he retired, plus 12 games at the end with the team now known as the St. Louis Cardinals, in a career that lasted from 1875 to 1892. In 1883, and again in 1884, both with Buffalo, he won 46 games.
That career curiously stopped at age 36 -- aging, but hardly old, for a pitcher, even then -- right before the distance from home plate to the pitcher's mound was extended from 50 feet to the now-traditional 60 feet, 6 inches, thus making it harder on pitchers.
He was also widely regarded as the best-fielding pitcher of his generation, and his pickoff move was the stuff of legend. on September 23, 1886, against the Brooklyn team that would become the Dodgers, he got out of a bases-loaded jam by picking off the runner at first base, then the runner at third, followed by the runner at second. The Alleghenys won, 8-2.
A 2006 National Public Radio article refers to Galvin as "the first baseball player to be widely known for using a performance enhancer." The Washington Post reported that Galvin used the Brown-Séquard elixir, which contained monkey testosterone, before a game in 1889. However, no one then seemed bothered by his use of the elixir, and the Post practically endorsed it after the game, saying that Galvin's performance was "the best proof yet furnished of the value of the discovery."
He was poor, and couldn't afford to take care of himself, and died on March 7, 1902, of a stomach disorder. He was only 45 years old.
Through the 2022 season, 24 pitchers have reached 300 wins. Galvin was followed by both Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch in 1890, Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn in 1891, John Clarkson in 1892, Charles "Kid" Nichols in 1900, Cy Young in 1901, Christy Mathewson in 1912, Eddie Plank in 1915, Walter Johnson in 1920, Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1924, Lefty Grove in 1941, Warren Spahn in 1961, Early Wynn in 1963, Gaylord Perry in 1982, Steve Carlton in 1983, Tom Seaver and Phil Niekro in 1985, Don Sutton in 1986, Nolan Ryan in 1990, Roger Clemens in 2003, Greg Maddux in 2004, Tom Glavine in 2007, and Randy Johnson (no relation to Walter) in 2009.
Only Clemens, Maddux, Glavine and Randy Johnson have done it while pitching all or most of their careers in the Post-1990 Five-Man Rotation Era. Only they, Grove, Spahn, Wynn, Perry Carlton, Seaver, Niekro, Sutton and Ryan have done so in the Post-1920 Lively Ball Era. As of September 4, 2022, the active leader in wins is Justin Verlander, with 244. It might be a long time, and with a significant change in how pitchers are used, before we ever see another 300-game winner. Even 250-game winners might become rare.
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September 4, 1888 was a Tuesday. In addition to Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis, these games were played in the National League:
* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at the original Polo Grounds.
* The Boston Beaneaters beat the Washington Nationals, 9-4 at the South End Grounds in Boston.
* And the Detroit Wolverines beat the Chicago White Stockings, 5-2 at West Side Park in Chicago.
And these games were played in the American Association:
* The Brooklyn Bridegrooms, so named because several of their players got married the previous off-season, beat the St. Louis Browns, 3-1 at the original Washington Park in Brooklyn.
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Cowboys, 9-2 at the original Oriole Park in Baltimore.
* And the Cleveland Blues beat the Louisville Colonels, 12-3 at National League Park in Cleveland. Yes, that was the ballpark's name, even though the Blues were in the AA. Both teams did enter the NL later, but were contracted out of existence after the 1899 season.
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