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Spitball
A spitball is a now-illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to move in an atypical manner. It may also cause the ball to "slip" out of the pitcher's fingers without the usual spin that accompanies a pitch. In this sense, a spitball can be thought of as a fastball with knuckleball action. Alternative names for the spitball are ''spitter'', ''mud ball'', ''shine ball'', ''supersinker'', or ''vaseline ball'' (because originally, Vaseline was used to give the ball a little more break). A spitball technically differs from an emery ball, in which the surface of the ball is cut or abraded. Saliva or Vaseline smooths the baseball, while the emery paper roughens it. The general term for altering the ball in any way is ''doctoring''. History The invention of the spitball has been popularly credited to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elmer Stricklett
Elmer Griffin Stricklett (August 29, 1876 – June 7, 1964) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox and Brooklyn Superbas from 1904 through 1907. Including his time in minor league baseball, Stricklett pitched professionally from 1897 through 1912. Stricklett is considered one of the pioneers of the spitball. He learned the pitch while playing in the minor leagues. He later taught the spitball to Ed Walsh and Jack Chesbro, both of whom were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Career Stricklett attended Santa Clara University, where he played college baseball for the Santa Clara Broncos baseball team. He began his professional career in minor league baseball with the Topeka Colts of the Kansas State League in 1897. In 1898, he pitched for the Salina Blues and Atchison Huskers of the Kansas State League, before joining the Dallas Colts of the Class-C Texas League later that year. He pitched for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burleigh Grimes
Burleigh Arland Grimes (August 18, 1893 – December 6, 1985) was an American professional baseball player and manager, and the last pitcher officially permitted to throw the spitball. Grimes made the most of this advantage, as well as his unshaven, menacing presence on the mound, which earned him the nickname "Ol' Stubblebeard." He won 270 MLB games, pitched in four World Series over the course of his 19-year career, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964. A decade earlier, he had been inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame. Early life Born in Emerald, Wisconsin, Grimes was the first child of Cecil "Nick" Grimes, a farmer and former day laborer, and Ruth Tuttle, the daughter of a former Wisconsin legislator. Having previously played baseball for several local teams, Nick Grimes managed the Clear Lake Yellow Jackets and taught his son how to play the game early in life. Burleigh Grimes also participated in boxing as a child. Grimes threw and batted ri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emery Ball
An emery ball is an illegal pitch in baseball, in which the ball has been altered by scuffing it with a rough surface, such as an emery board or sandpaper. This technique alters the spin of the ball, causing it to move in an atypical manner, as more spin makes the ball rise, while less spin makes the ball drop. The general term for altering the ball in any way is ''doctoring''. The emery ball differs from the spitball, in which the ball is doctored by applying saliva or Vaseline. Vaseline or saliva smooths the baseball, while the emery paper roughens it. Russ Ford discovered the emery ball in the minor leagues in 1907 when he saw what a scuff on a baseball did to its movement. He began keeping emery paper in his baseball glove. Though he initially kept the pitch a secret, he had to inform his catcher, Ed Sweeney, about it. Sweeney taught it to other pitchers, and the pitch was discovered when an umpire found emery paper in Ray Keating's glove in 1914. The pitch was outlawed, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Fisher (baseball)
Ray Lyle Fisher (October 4, 1887 – November 3, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher and college coach. He pitched all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball. His debut game took place on July 2, 1910. His final game took place on October 2, 1920. During his early professional career he played for the New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds. From 1921 to 1958, he coached the University of Michigan Wolverines baseball team, and served as assistant coach for basketball and football. In 1929 and 1932 he took the baseball team to Japan for a month each time at the invitation of Meiji University, where they played several games against Japanese university teams around the nation. Early life Nicknamed "Pick" (short for the freshwater fish Esox, pickerel), Fisher was an all-around athlete who played football, basketball, baseball, and competed in track events, though his father permitted sports only if the farm work was done. He played on Vermont's 1904 State Cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doc Ayers
Yancey Wyatt "Doc" Ayers (May 21, 1891 – May 26, 1968) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was known for throwing the spitball and was one of the 17 pitchers allowed to continue throwing the pitch after it was outlawed in 1920. Ayers played nine seasons in the American League with the Washington Senators (1913–19) and Detroit Tigers (1919–21). He batted and threw right-handed. Doc Ayers was born in Carroll County, Virginia, on May 20, 1890. He attended Woodlawn High School (Woodlawn, Virginia), where he tried out for the school's baseball team. He gained the nickname "Doc" after he enrolled in the Medical College of Virginia, now the medical campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. While at MCV, he bought a book on pitching. He was a catcher at WHS, but he reported as a pitcher when the call came for college baseball tryouts. Ayers was the opposing pitcher for the Senators on June 23, 1917, against the Boston Red Sox. Ernie Shore r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Chapman
Raymond Johnson Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American baseball player. He spent his entire career as a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians of the American League. Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by pitcher Carl Mays and died 12 hours later. He is, , the only player to die directly from an injury received during a major league game. His death led baseball to establish a rule requiring umpires to replace the ball whenever it becomes dirty. Chapman's death and sanitary concerns also led to the ban on spitballs after the 1920 season. Chapman's death was also one of the examples cited to justify the wearing of batting helmets. However, it took over 30 years to adopt the rule that required their use. Early life Chapman was born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, and raised in Herrin, Illinois. Career Chapman broke into the major leagues in 1912 with the Cleveland team, then known as the Naps. Chapman led the American League in runs scored and w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knuckleball
A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch (baseball), pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from Laminar flow, laminar to Turbulence, turbulent flow. This change adds a deflecting force to the baseball, making it difficult for batter (baseball), batters to hit but also difficult for pitchers to control and catchers to catch; umpires are challenged as well, as the ball's irregular motion through the air makes it harder to call strike zone, balls and strikes.Hoffman, Benjamin"Not So Easy on the Eyes"''New York Times'' (June 23, 2012) A pitcher who throws knuckleballs is known as a List of knuckleball pitchers, knuckleballer. Origins The origins of the knuckleball are unclear. Toad Ramsey of the Louisville Colonels in the American Association (19th century), American Association—his pitch likely resembled the knuckle curve—and Eddie Cicotte of the Chic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Mays
Carl William Mays (November 12, 1891 – April 4, 1971) was an American baseball pitcher who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. During his career, he won over 200 games, 27 in 1921 alone, and was a member of four World Series-champion teams. On August 16, 1920, Mays threw the pitch that fatally injured Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians, the only major league player to die as a direct result of an on-field injury.''Carl Mays: My Pitch That Killed Chapman Was A Strike!'' by Phyllis Propert, ''Baseball Digest'', July 1957, Vol. 16, No. 6 Playing career According to his World War I draft c ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Walsh
Edward Augustine Walsh (May 14, 1881 – May 26, 1959) was an American pitcher and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball, nicknamed "Big Ed". From 1906 to 1912, he had several seasons where he was one of the best pitchers in baseball. Walsh holds the record for lowest career earned run average, 1.82.Coffey (2004), pp. 26–33. He is one of two modern (post-1901) pitchers to win 40 or more games in a single season, and the last pitcher to do so. He is the last pitcher from any team to throw more than 400 innings in a single season, a feat he accomplished in 1907 and 1908. Though injuries shortened his career, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1946. Early life Walsh was born in Plains Township, Pennsylvania, to Michael and Jane Walsh. He worked in the Luzerne County coal mines when he was young. Walsh started his professional baseball career with the 1902 Meriden Silverites of the Connecticut State League. After p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional baseball league in the world. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during the first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round Major League Baseball postseason, postseason tournament in October, culminating in the World Series, a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively, the NL and AL cemented their cooperation with the National Agreement in 1903, making MLB the oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allen Russell
Allan E. "Rubberarm" Russell (July 31, 1893 – October 20, 1972) was an American professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of 11 seasons (1915–1925) with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Washington Senators. For his career, he compiled a 71–76 record in 345 appearances, with a 3.52 earned run average and 603 strikeouts. Russell played on the 1924 World Series champion Senators, making one appearance in the World Series, giving up one run over three innings of work. He was a spitball pitcher who was allowed to throw the pitch after it was banned following the 1920 season. He was one of 17 pitchers exempt from the rule change. He was born and later died in Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of 79. His brother Lefty Russell also played Major League Baseball. See also * List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders The following is a list of annual leaders in saves in Major League Baseball (MLB), with separate lists for the Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error (baseball), errors being committed by the Defense (sports), defensive team. A home run is usually achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles (or hitting either foul pole) without the ball touching the Baseball field, field. Inside-the-park home runs where the batter reaches home safely while the baseball is in play on the field are infrequent. In very rare cases, a fielder attempting to catch a ball in flight may misplay it and knock it over the outfield fence, resulting in a home run. An official scorer will credit the batter with a hit (baseball), hit, a Run (baseball), run scored, and a run batted in (RBI), as well as an RBI for each Base running, runner on base. The pitcher is recorded as having given u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
