Virgil Lee Garvin[note 1] (January 1, 1874 – June 16, 1908), nicknamed "the Navasota Tarantula", was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Garvin was known for his bad luck as a pitcher; he had a strong career earned run average (ERA) of 2.72, but his win–loss record (57–97) suffered because he played on poorly performing teams.

Over the course of his career, he was implicated in the assaults of a team traveling secretary and an insurance salesman, the shooting of a saloonkeeper and the attempted murder of a black man at a barber shop.

[2] Near the beginning of the 20th century, Garvin developed an unusual pitch that curved in the opposite direction of the typical curveball thrown by a right-handed pitcher.

However, baseball authors Rob Neyer and Bill James credit a minor leaguer named Dave Williams with showing the fadeaway to Mathewson.

[7] Garvin once attempted to use his propensity for fighting in a sanctioned activity, challenging championship boxer Terry McGovern to a bout.

[11] That year the fledgling American League (AL) made a serious attempt to recruit players from NL teams.

[15] In August 1902, Garvin became intoxicated and shot a Chicago bar owner named Lawrence Flanigan.

[17] Garvin signed with the Brooklyn Superbas and appeared in two games for them late in 1902, returning to the team for the 1903 and 1904 seasons.

[14] In the middle of the 1904 season, the Brooklyn team was traveling to St. Louis by Pullman car when Garvin and a few teammates were drinking heavily.

Garvin attempted to start a conversation with another guest at the hotel, New York insurance salesman R. N. Sheffey.

When the man continued to read his newspaper instead of talking to Garvin, the hot-headed pitcher beat Sheffey about the face, resulting in a broken nose.

"[15] After the 1904 season, Garvin spent the next two years pitching for the minor-league Portland Giants and Seattle Siwashes of the Pacific Coast League.

[22] In the same year, authorities had declared Garvin's wife Jean to be insane for the third time, as she was in the hospital and refusing to eat.

[25] By the winter, Garvin was suffering from tuberculosis and his sports friends in Seattle raised money for him to return to Texas in the hopes that a climate change would help him.

[26] The change of location was ineffective, and Garvin moved again, this time to a drier climate in Fresno, California.