Spitball

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Gaylord Perry threw the spitball during his career. GaylordPerryFlickr.jpg
Gaylord Perry threw the spitball during his career.

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. [1]

Contents

History

Slippery elm bark, chewed to produce the extra saliva needed to throw a spitball Pine-tar bat.jpg
Slippery elm bark, chewed to produce the extra saliva needed to throw a spitball

The invention of the spitball has been popularly credited to a number of individuals, among them Elmer Stricklett and Frank Corridon. Numerous accounts, however, refer to different players experimenting with versions of the spitball throughout the latter half of the 19th century, and it remains unlikely that any one individual "invented" the spitball. [2]

Ed Walsh, however, is certainly responsible for popularizing it. Walsh dominated the American League from 1906 to 1912, primarily on the strength of his spitball, and pitchers around the league soon copied his spitball or invented their own trick pitch.

The dramatic increase in the popularity of "freak deliveries" led to a great deal of controversy throughout the 1910s regarding the abolition of the spitball and related pitches. In his autobiography, Ty Cobb wrote that such "freak pitches [...] were outlawed when the owners greedily sold out to home runs." [3]

In addition, there were serious issues with the spitball, including some that affected safety. A variation on the standard spitball called for the pitcher to smear the entire surface of the normally white ball with a mixture of tobacco spittle and dirt or mud in order to stain it the same deep brown color as the infield which made it nearly impossible for batters to see (and sometimes avoid) in low-light conditions. In August 1920, Ray Chapman was killed when he was struck in the temple by a pitch thrown by known spitball pitcher Carl Mays during a poorly lit game.

Ban

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the spitball was banned in two stages. In the winter of 1919–1920, managers voted to partially ban the spitball. Each team was allowed to designate up to two pitchers who would be permitted to throw spitballs. After the 1920 season, the use of the spitball was banned with the exception of a group of 17 existing spitballers, who were grandfathered in and allowed to throw the pitch legally until they retired. [4]

Of the exempted group, Burleigh Grimes lasted the longest, retiring in 1934. The complete list of exempted spitballers is: Ray Fisher (played through 1920); Doc Ayers (1921); Ray Caldwell (1921); Phil Douglas (1922); Dana Fillingim (1925); Marv Goodwin (1925); Dutch Leonard (1925); Allen Russell (1925); Allen Sothoron (1926); Dick Rudolph (1927); Stan Coveleski (1928); Urban Shocker (1928); Bill Doak (1929); Clarence Mitchell (1932); Red Faber (1933); Jack Quinn (1933); and Grimes. [5]

In March 1955, MLB Commissioner Ford Frick advocated for the return of the spitball, telling a sportswriter, "If I had my way, I'd legalize the old spitter. It was a great pitch and one of the easiest to throw. There was nothing dangerous about it." [6] Despite the Commissioner's enthusiasm, the pitch remained illegal.

Methodology

The spitball is now banned in Major League baseball. [1] It is a pitching violation in NCAA Baseball. [7] However, it is still sometimes thrown in violation of the rules. In 1942, Leo Durocher, then-manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, fined Bobo Newsom for throwing a spitball and "lying to me about it." Typically, a lubricant is hidden behind the pitcher's knee or under the peak of his cap. Others will place the ball in their mitt and then cough on or lick it. Another tactic pitchers use is to soak their hair in water before going out to the mound, and then rub their hair before a pitch.

Preacher Roe, who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s, was renowned both for his ability to control the spitball and to throw it without getting caught and described his methodology in a 1955 article in Sports Illustrated . "The Outlawed Spitball Was My Money Pitch" was published a year after he retired. [8] Another famous user of the pitch was Gaylord Perry, who went so far as to title his autobiography Me and the Spitter and chronicled the clever ways in which he avoided detection. For example, Perry would put Vaseline on his zipper because umpires would never check a player's groin. Don Drysdale also used the pitch regularly, [9] as did Lew Burdette. [10] Drysdale would apply oil to the back of his hair to put on the ball to make it sink. [9] Mike Fiers has been accused of doctoring the baseball during both his no-hitters. [11]

The name dry spitter is sometimes used to describe a pitch that moves like a spitball without saliva, such as the forkball or split-finger fastball. It is sometimes used simply as slang for the knuckleball.

There is also the remote term of God-given spitter, which is when the ball is naturally dampened by moist air or light rainfall, which allows pitchers to be able to throw pitches with sharper breaks, much like a spitball.

See also

Related Research Articles

Burleigh Grimes American baseball player and manager

Burleigh Arland Grimes 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.

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Knuckleball Baseball pitch

A knuckleball or knuckler is a 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 to turbulent flow. This change adds a deflecting force to the baseball, making it difficult for 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 balls and strikes. A pitcher who throws knuckleballs is known as a knuckleballer.

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Split-finger fastball Baseball pitch

A split-finger fastball or splitter is an off-speed pitch in baseball that looks to the batter like a fastball until it drops suddenly. Derived from the forkball, it is so named because the pitcher puts the index and middle finger on different sides of the ball.

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Selva Lewis Burdette, Jr. was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves. The team's top right-hander during its years in Milwaukee, he was the Most Valuable Player of the 1957 World Series, leading the franchise to its first championship in 43 years, and the only title in Milwaukee history. An outstanding control pitcher, his career average of 1.84 walks per nine innings pitched places him behind only Robin Roberts (1.73), Greg Maddux (1.80), Carl Hubbell, (1.82) and Juan Marichal (1.82) among pitchers with at least 3,000 innings since 1920.

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William Leopold Doak was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who played for three teams between 1912 and 1929. He spent portions of 13 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was nicknamed "Spittin' Bill" because he threw the spitball. He led the National League in earned run average in 1914, and he won 20 games in the 1920 season.

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Frank Shellenback American baseball player

Frank Victor Shellenback was an American pitcher, pitching coach, and scout in Major League Baseball. As a pitcher, he was famous as an expert spitballer when the pitch was still legal in organized baseball; however, because Shellenback, then 21, was on a minor league roster when the spitball was outlawed after the 1919 season, he was banned from throwing the pitch in the Major Leagues. As a result, Shellenback spent 19 years (1920–38) — the remainder of his active career — throwing the spitball legally in the Pacific Coast League. He won a record 296 PCL games.

12–6 curveball Baseball pitch

The 12–6 curveball is one of the types of pitches thrown in baseball. It is categorized as a breaking ball because of its downward break. The 12–6 curveball, unlike the normal curveball, breaks in a downward motion in a straight line. This explains the name "12–6", because the break of the pitch refers to the ball breaking from the number 12 to the number 6 on a clock. While the 11–5 and 2–8 variations are very effective pitches, they are less effective than a true 12–6, because the ball will break into the heart of the bat more readily.

Emery ball Illegal baseball pitch

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.

Cheating in baseball Deliberate violation of baseball rules

Cheating in baseball is a deliberate violation of the baseball rules or other behavior that is designed to gain an unfair advantage against an opponent. Forms of cheating include doctoring the baseball, doctoring baseball bats, electronic sign stealing, and the use of performance-enhancing substances. Other actions, such as fielders attempting to mislead baserunners about the location of the ball, are considered gamesmanship and are not in violation of the rules.

References

  1. 1 2 "Doctoring the Baseball". Major League Baseball . Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  2. ↑ James, Bill; Neyer, Rob (2008-06-16). The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches. ISBN   978-1439103777.
  3. ↑ Cobb, Ty; Stump, Al (1961). My life in baseball: The true record. ISBN   0803263597.
  4. ↑ Okrent, Daniel (1989-04-20). Baseball anecdotes. ISBN   9780195043969.
  5. ↑ Faber, Charles F.; Faber, Richard B. (2006). Spitballers - The Last Legal Hurlers of the Wet One. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company. p. v. ISBN   0-7864-2347-1 . Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "Frick Favors Return of "the Old Spitter"". Milwaukee Journal. March 8, 1953. p. 2.
  7. ↑ 2021 and 2022 Baseball Rules and Interpretations. NCAA Publications, 2020 "9-2-e - Pitcher applies foreign substance"
  8. ↑ Goldstein, Richard (November 10, 2008). "Preacher Roe, Brooklyn Dodgers Star Known for His Spitball, Dies at 92". The New York Times . Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  9. 1 2 Calcaterra, Craig - Bill White on Don Drysdale: “he threw spitballs”. NBC Sports, March 28, 2011
  10. ↑ Goldstein, Richard - Lew Burdette, Masterful Pitcher, Dies at 80. New York Times, February 7, 2007
  11. ↑ "Was Mike Fiers cheating during his no-hitter?". ESPN . August 24, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
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