Keith Olbermann: The Human Growth Era

  • Posted by: Shaun
  • Wednesday, February 28, 2007

[Keith Olbermann] Once again, on “The Dan Patrick Show”, Keith Olbermann credited Pud Galvin as the first professional athlete to use steroids. Galvin is known to have taken animal hormones toward the end of his career, way back in 1888.

Olbermann referred to what many call “the steroid era,” as “the human growth era.” Although the era goes back nearly 120 years, he doubts there were many steroid/human growth hormone users between Pud Galvin, and 1998.

Today was at least the second time Olbermann cited Pud Galvin as the pioneer of steroids in baseball. The other was on December 5, 2006.

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February 28th, 2007
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Jeff
Posted on:
Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 2:03 pm

With all due respect to Keith Olbermann — and god knows I love the guy — I hate that he keeps bringing that up. Pud Galvin deserves to be remembered for being one of the ALL-TIME greats on the Mound, not for an oddity and something that didn’t make a damn bit of difference in his career. Every pitcher on the planet should get down on his knees and pay respects to guys like Pud. That guy was un-freaking-believable.

But with all props to Pud and all homage paid to Cy Young’s longevity, at the height of their careers, there was no one more fearsome than Charley Radbourn. Just a quick comparison of their best years and Cy Young comes in a distant third:

Charley Radbourn
Year W L G GS CG SHO IP BB SO
1884 59 12 75 73 73 11 678.7 98 441 Pud Galvin
Year W L G GS CG SHO IP BB SO
1883 46 29 76 75 72 5 656.3 50 279
Cy Young
Year W L G GS CG SHO IP BB SO
1892 36 12 53 49 48 9 453.0 118 168

Radbourn also won 48 games the year before he set the record with 59.

And for nicknames, is there anything better than: “Old Hoss”

———————–

this is a great site, thanks for doing it. I ran across Pud one day just cruising around the pitching stats as well and was in awe from the git-go. 656 innings in 76 games…jiminy christmas. It makes me laugh these days when pitchers complain of sore arms and finish the year with 212 innings.

By the way, Old Hoss went 678 in 75 games. Somebody tell Olbermann about THAT GUY!

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Shaun
Posted on:
Monday, March 12, 2007 at 1:16 pm

Jeff, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.

I’m also a little upset that Keith Olbermann keeps mentioning Pud Galvin like he was a bad guy. However, it is good to hear Pud mentioned on ESPN Radio, 115 years after he threw his last pitch.

You’re right, Charley Radbourn is another standout pitcher from the same era, who, like Pud, is overlooked. You have to wonder how many wins “Old Hoss” would have if he pitched more than 11 seasons. Those 1883 and 1884 seasons were simply amazing.

There are so many great nicknames from those days. “Old Hoss” not only sounds good, but it’s intimidating to opposing batters.

We’ll never see workhorses like Pud and Old Hoss in modern day baseball, but that helps us appreciate these guys even more. Plus, it’s fun to see how surprised people are when they hear how many innnings these guys pitched in just one season.

-Shaun