The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-08-11
r. Ford Goes Back On His Old Meal Ticket the SpttG
Says It's Unsanitary and Adopts Finger Nail 81
N ew Delivery Has
Banned Emery Ball
for Ancestor

$3.50 'N"e"c III lSlf, WOuiu par the
spitball This. from a pitcher who
climbed to the pinnacle OF twirling
greatness through the medium of
the salivated delivery, and who later
attained remarkable success after
discovering the emery ball, certainly
reads paradoxical. However, Russ
made this declaration.
Abolish the splitter and legaIize
the finger nail ball. said Ford, dis.
cussing various possible reforms In
the national pastime. IL know this
sounds queer coming from a fellow
who owes almost everything to the
moist ball, but I'm absolutely in
earnest My reasons for urging the
elimination Of the splitter are chiefly
OF sanitary nature. Another good
argument, however, Is the offensive
ness OF the spectacle presented
when pitcher stands before a vast
assemblage OF intelligent people
and deliberately 'slobbers' all over
the sphere.
The finger nail ball suggested by
Ford as the ready relief to the
much-discussed splitter Is another OF
Ford's curving finds. Long before
the powers that be In organized
ball. as we'll as the Federals, issued
rulings which barred the emery ball
from championship engagements
Ford had mastered freak, yet
highly effective. delivery. as the re-
suit OF slightly "winging" the ball
by scraping one side of 1t with his
educated finger nails. Players who
have batted against Ford's nailed
repertory have pronounced the ball
almost impossible to gauge, and say
1t is fully as deceptive as the emery
thing.
Versions galore Of how Ford dis
covered the emery ball and how
this style OF pitching later became
quite the proper caper among minor
as well as major league boxmen
have been told. but the true facts
are related here by Ford himself.
heTe tney are.
II was warming up one afternoon
in 1909 with Ed Sweeney In the ball
park at Atlanta when I CHANGED to
discover the thing" said Ford. 81
was pitching spitters, and one Of
the balls went wide of Sweeney and
struck the sand. When ! got the
ball hack found II had been
roughed on one side, or winged. as
the players say. ! didn't think any
thing OF this, however, at the time
simply went on pitching spitters,
and observed a wonderful freakish
hop. darling away from Sweeney.
"'Say, where did you get that
one? yelled Big Ed after he had
recovered the ball. Can you throw
me another just like that?'
II volunteered to try. and sure
enough the ball acted up just like
the first one. So l decided I'd ex-
pertinent, and every day thereafter
found myself becoming more and
more adept in controlling 1t. Later
7 took to roughing new balls with
sandpaper
mot long aftcrward I conceived
the idea of sewing piece OF en-
cry cloth to the web Of my glove,
then finally got the thing down to
a fine art by cutting piece out OF
the palm OF the glove. Each day
when was scheduled to pitch
would put a fresh strip OF emery
cloth on a disk, which was attached
to a ring that slipped over the
middle finger on my left hand and
directly under the hole In my glove.
The rest was easy. When | got
into a tight situation all had to do
was to rub the ball over the open
Ing and touch It gently against the
emery-tipped disk, then go on with
the pitching.
For long time I kept the en-
cry ball to myself, although other
players on the Jersey City club, as
well as the Yankees, were trying
to land my secret. Whenever I
fixed the emery-covered disk for
service would act under cover. but
finally got to feeling like burglar
about 1t. SO l confided in three team
mates on the New York club.
And all the while | was expert
menting with the finger-nail ball,
because I knew any act that would
wing a ball would bring results, as
Clark Grifith frequently scraped
the sphere over his spikes. Sam
Lever carried a clinker in his
pocket. which he used in roughing
the ball. and many other successful
pitchers had been known to follow
these methods.
well, II wasn't long after I
jumped to the Federal league that
the story broke-the one which
credited Cy Falkenberg with hav.
ing originated the emery ball.
though am confident Falkey got
his information from another
source"