haldormud

Pud Galvin

2008-03-31T19:56:06Z

With the dawning of a new season in this so-called Steroid Era,  I think it is only fiting to remember James Francis "Pud" Galvin. The first baseballer to openly admit to using a performance enhancing substance. In his case it was Brown-Sequard Elixir which contained monkey testosterone. Apparently the stuff worked, as Galvin won 361 games in just a shade over 6,000 innings pitched between 1875 and 1892 (18 seasons). Cy Young leads all-time in both of those categories (511) and (7354.2) in 22 seasons.  In the Dead Ball Era most teams had just 2 starting pitchers; which beefed up the St. Louis born right hander's stats considerably. Pud pitched an astonishing 70 complete games in 1883 and again in 1884.   Cy and Pud played 2 seasons in the same league 1891 and 1892 as Cy was with the Cleveland Spiders and Pud was on the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Brown Stockings. I have been unable to find the head-to-head stats; if anyone can find that info; please do share.

  Mr. Galvin died in 1902 at the age of 45 (some sources list his age at 47) after suffering from gastric catarrh (inflammation of the stomach). As is the case with many who have achieved athletic greatness, the downside was not so rosy for Pud. He owned a tavern which went belly-up, a setback that added to his depression and reliance on alcohol  . His final job was working as a bartender in Alleghney, Pennsylvania. No doubt regaling his customers with tales of his past glory. I wonder which contributed more to his earthly demise, the Elixir or the alcohol. Furthermore had he lived in a different era like ours where there are prescription medications to curb mental illness and depression; would his life had been any happier? Would he have turned to the performance enhancing "elixirs" of the modern times? As a long time baseball fan, I just love to speculate on the what ifs.

Coincidentally, Roger Clemens, who appeared on "60 Minutes" in an attempt to dispel allegations of  Human Growth Hormone use as a response to the Mitchell Report was 7 wins behind Galvin with 354 at the close of the 2007 season.

Unofficial Bridgewater Club Report for June 11

2007-06-12T17:10:56Z

5 people showed up, so 3 of us took turns playing the dummy. Mr. Francis was 2-0, Jackie went 2-1, Cheryl was 1-2, I was 1-1 and Jodi was 0-2. I played the bingos: TAURINE and GOOBERS

Gardening

2007-05-15T14:08:23Z

Attention all those who want a full body workout; try a roto-tiller. Yesterday I spent the late afternoon and early evening digging up the garden to make the ground suitable for planting cilantro, basil, garlic, shallots, 3 kinds of tomato, 4 varieties of pepper, cucumber and 3 types of lettuce.  The end result is that I can barely lift my arms today; that's a good thing!

Planning to go to Bennigan's tonight for some NTN, haven't seen Willie The Guru; hope he's back from his business trip to Sierra Leone; I'm sure he'll have some good stories to tell. Two weeks ago, Mr. Len, made a surprise appearance as he was up from Fort Myers, Fla; his home in retirement and was here for  his 45th high school reunion. Dan Vickery also made an appearance, he is one of the producers of http://www.xanaduonbroadway.com/ he was promoting the musical which goes into previews on May 23 at 8:30. I tried to score some discount tix, but all he could offer us was the box office price $111. I just don't know how you can get over the stigma of a terrible movie and think that people will want to pay over $100 bucks to see the musical. I mean I hope it works out for him, but, from a marketing standpoint; I am bemused. By the way, Dan is the guy who paid his way through college as a Sushi Chef on a nude beach in Vancouver; so maybe I really shouldn't question his vision.

Trivia

2007-05-10T16:19:07Z

Skipped my usual Tuesday night NTN club meeting for The Edison Scrabble Club and an appearance on Stu Shostak's "Anyone Can Play" on internet radio. I recommend this show for all the trivia-heads out there; it was a good experience and all participants garner a prize. I was told that our episode will "air" on the week of June 5th. go to : http://www.shokusradio.com/ for more details.

As for the Edison Scrabble Club; 10 people including myself. Among the regulars were at least 3 ranked members, Walter who serves as the club director told me that they are in the process of becoming registered with the NSA. I went 1-1 against Barbara and Imogene.

haldormud @ 2007-05-07T09:42:00

2007-05-07T13:56:25Z

My Scrabble club appearance tonight has been sandbagged because of a surprise birthday party for Ryan the Fireman, who is part of my girlfriend Sue's family. It was good to be back in the world of tiles last week after 3 weeks of missing due to visiting Florida. I have only been playing club and tourney scrabble since March, but I think I am hooked. I know I can't stay at the measly rating of 528 for long; my rating after my opening tournament and early bird O-fer at the Princeton Classic Deux; if I can continue to play bingoes as tasty as the zoological : HYRACES, QUAGGAS and DUIKERS.

ACTP

2006-03-27T23:02:39Z

Marvelous event, really!