Russ Ford
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| Russ Ford | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Russ Ford baseball card.jpg | |||
| Pitcher | |||
| Born: April 25, 1883 Brandon, Manitoba |
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| Died: Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Rockingham, North Carolina |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 28, 1909, for the New York Highlanders | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 16, 1915, for the Buffalo Blues | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win-loss record | 99-71 | ||
| Earned run average | 2.59 | ||
| Strikeouts | 710 | ||
| Teams | |||
Russell William Ford (April 25, 1883 – January 24, 1960) was a Major League Baseball pitcher during the dead-ball era of the early 1900s.
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 came across the "scuff ball" by accident when playing for the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association in 1908.[1] When pitching under a grandstand due to rain, Ford accidentally threw a ball into a wooden upright, marking the surface.[1] Ford threw another pitch with the damaged ball, and noticed how it curved more than previous pitches.[1]
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.[2]
Hall of Fame
Ford was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2002.
Brother
Russ' brother, Gene Ford, also played in the major leagues. Gene pitched in seven games for the Detroit Tigers in 1905.
See also
References
External links
- Baseball-Reference - career statistics and analysis
- Biography at Mop Up Duty
- Russ Ford’s biography at Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
- Pages with broken file links
- 1883 births
- 1960 deaths
- Major League Baseball pitchers
- Major League Baseball players from Canada
- New York Highlanders players
- New York Yankees players
- Buffalo Buffeds players
- Buffalo Blues players
- Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball coaches
- Sportspeople from Brandon, Manitoba
- Baseball people from Manitoba
- Cedar Rapids Rabbits players
- Atlanta Crackers players
- Jersey City Skeeters players
- Denver Bears players
- Toledo Iron Men players
