Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 208, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 September 1910 — NEW CURVE BRINGS SUCCESS [ARTICLE]

NEW CURVE BRINGS SUCCESS

Wonderful Achievements of Russell Ford of Highlanders Due to Spitball Curve. The wonderful success of Russell Ford, the star pitcher of the Highlanders, is due principally to development of a freak spitball curve. Lajole was unable to find it the other day and did not get a single drive off- the young architect. The regular spitball is thrown by covering the tips of the first and second fingers with saliva so that the ball will slip .off those fingers and not take a rotary motion. The ball, therefore, gets its direction from the thumb and wabbles to the plate In a peculiar, Jerky fashion. The only trouble with that curve is the Inability of the pitcher to make it break "in” or “out” to the batter according to the wishes of the twfrier. Ford has solv,ed that problem by inventing a way of making the curve break in. Ford found that by moistening the knuckle of his third finger with saliva that the ball would sHp off from the side instead of the tips of the fingers, and as there was no friction on the right aide of the ball Jt would gradually drop “Inside” of the plate. He controls It perfectly. He can also make the ball ty-eak outward by moistening the thumb.