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Spitball (comics)
A spitball is an 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 number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English periodical ''The Monthly Review'', when he suggested the word as a hybrid, but condemned it as "pedantic". However, its next recorded use was in its present sense, by Robert Southey in 1809. Despite only being named early in the nineteenth century, first-person autobiographical writing originates in antiquity. Roy Pascal differentiates autobiography from the periodic self-reflective mode of journal or diary writing by noting that " utobiographyis a review of a life from a particular moment in time, while the diary, however reflective it may be, moves through a series of moments in time". Autobiography thus takes stock of the autobiographer's life from the moment of composition. While biographers generally rely on a wide variety of documents an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Leonard (left-handed Pitcher)
Hubert Benjamin "Dutch" Leonard, (April 16, 1892 – July 11, 1952) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who had an 11-year career from 1913 to 1921, and 1924 to 1925. He played for the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers, and holds the major league modern-era record for the lowest single-season ERA of all time — 0.96 in 1914. He is not to be confused with Emil "Dutch" Leonard, a right-handed pitcher who pitched in the major leagues between 1933 and 1953. Early years Born in Birmingham, Ohio, Leonard played baseball for Saint Mary's College of California, then located in Oakland, from 1910 to 1911. In 1912, he played for the Denver Grizzlies of the Western League, where he compiled a 22–9 record with 326 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.50. Boston Red Sox Leonard debuted with the Boston Red Sox in 1913. He had a breakout season in his second year in the major leagues, , leading the American League with a remarkable 0.96 ERA – the MLB record for sing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marv Goodwin
Marvin Mardo Goodwin (January 16, 1891 – October 21, 1925) was a professional baseball player who was a pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1916 to 1925. He would play for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds. Goodwin was known for throwing the spitball, and he was one of the 17 pitchers allowed to continue throwing the pitch after it was outlawed in 1920. Goodwin was a pilot in World War I, and died after the war from injuries sustained in a training flight while a member of the Army Air Service Reserve. He is believed to have been the first professional athlete killed as a result of a plane crash. Early life Goodwin was born and raised in Gordonsville, Virginia, and graduated from high school there. He attended college for two years in New London, Connecticut, and later took a position as a telegraph operator with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Goodwin became an established baseball star with the semipro team in his hometown, and the railroa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dana Fillingim
Dana Fillingim (November 6, 1893 – February 3, 1961) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Braves, and Philadelphia Phillies. Fillingim's key pitch was the spitball, and he was one of the pitchers allowed to continue throwing the pitch after it was outlawed in 1921.James, Bill and Neyer, Rob. The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers' (Simon & Schuster, 2004), p. 203. His best season was in 1921, when he was 15-10 with the Boston Braves. He was a good hitting pitcher in his 8-year major league career, recording a .209 batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ... (77-for-368) with 2 home runs and 26 RBI. Fillingim was a good fielding pitcher in the majors, posting a .983 fielding percentage with only 6 errors i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Douglas (baseball)
Phillip Brooks Douglas (June 17, 1890 – August 1, 1952) was an American baseball player. He was known as "Shufflin' Phil", most likely because of his slow gait from the bullpen to the mound. Douglas originally signed with the Chicago White Sox in 1912, but soon landed with the Cincinnati Reds. In 1915, he was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers, then to the Chicago Cubs. Douglas' short stints with these and future teams stemmed from their frustrations with his well-documented alcoholism, about which a contemporary journalist wrote, "Drinking was not a habit with Douglas—it was a disease." His throwing error on a sacrifice bunt in Game 4 of the 1918 World Series gave the Boston Red Sox a 3–2 victory over the Cubs. In 1919, he was signed by the New York Giants. John McGraw had some luck in keeping Douglas' drinking under control. In 1920, Douglas had a 14–10 record and a 2.71 ERA. Following the season, the spitball was banned but 17 players, including Douglas, were allowed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Caldwell
Raymond Benjamin Caldwell (April 26, 1888 – August 17, 1967) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Cleveland Indians from 1910 to 1921. He was known for throwing the spitball, and he was one of the 17 pitchers allowed to continue throwing the pitch after it was outlawed in 1920. Caldwell was notorious during his playing career for his addiction to alcohol and partying; he possessed a self-destructive streak that many of his contemporaries believed stopped him from reaching his potential. In 1924, Miller Huggins wrote: "Caldwell was one of the best pitchers that ever lived, but he was one of those characters that keep a manager in a constant worry. If he had possessed a sense of responsibility and balance, Ray Caldwell would have gone down in history as one of the greatest of all pitchers." Yet, despite his achievements on the field and his antics off it, Caldwell was struck by lightning ... [...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 when the call came for college baseball tryouts he reported as a pitcher. Ayers was the opposing pitcher for the Senators on June 23, 1917, against the Boston Red Sox. Ernie Shore reli ... [...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 Ch ... [...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 the former 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 b ... [...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 ... [...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. 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 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. Career Chapman was born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, and raised in Herrin, Illinois. He 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 walks in 1918. A top-notch bunter, Chapman is sixth on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
