Emery Ball
Ford is best known as the creator of the "emery" or "scuff" ball, a pitch that was thrown with a ball that had been scuffed with a piece of emery. Ford won 26 games in his rookie season of 1910, becoming only the third player in major league history to win 20 games and strike out at least 200 batters in his first season (Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander are the others).
His pitch selection included the famed scuff/emery ball, a spitball, fastball, and knuckle ball.
Read more about this topic: Russ Ford
Famous quotes containing the word ball:
“Innings and afternoons. Fly lost in sunset.
Throwing arm gone bad. There’s your old ball game.
Cool reek of the field. Reek of companions.”
—Robert Fitzgerald (1910–1985)