Thomas "Toad" Ramsey - INVENTOR OF KNUCKLEBALL?
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 2:15 amRamsey only came to "discover" the pitch because of an unfortunate accident. Working as a bricklayer, Ramsey sliced the tendon of his index finger, forcing him to hold the ball by his fingertips. This produced two different "curves" or drop-balls.
Sure, it wasn't quite a knuckleball -- and the 19th century sportswriters couldn't possibly comprehend the glory of what the pitch could become -- but it was a kind of knuckler. A proto-knuckleball, if you will, with movement similar to that of a modern-day knuckle-curve.
It was a devastating pitch and batters were helpless against it. The Chattanooga Daily Times said he fired his “drop-ball” from his “southpaw wing as if he were a wizard and his arm were the wand.”
https://www.mlb.com/news/toad-ramsey-in ... nuckleball
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... to01.shtml
Sure, it wasn't quite a knuckleball -- and the 19th century sportswriters couldn't possibly comprehend the glory of what the pitch could become -- but it was a kind of knuckler. A proto-knuckleball, if you will, with movement similar to that of a modern-day knuckle-curve.
It was a devastating pitch and batters were helpless against it. The Chattanooga Daily Times said he fired his “drop-ball” from his “southpaw wing as if he were a wizard and his arm were the wand.”
https://www.mlb.com/news/toad-ramsey-in ... nuckleball
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... to01.shtml