With Hildebrand and Corridon teaming up to introduce the modern day spitball, the Matrix will now begin to churn its gears and take effect on my historical replay. What follows is what we’ll consider the formation of the exclusive club “The Slippery Elm Boys.”
Bill Hart, 36 year old journeyman from Kentucky, was once considered one of the speediest pitchers in baseball. Two years in the old American Association did not prove very productive and Hart spent over four years either out of baseball or trying to regain his form for local amateur teams. He returned to the National League with Brooklyn in ’92 but the team dropped him after the season, when another two year sabbatical derailed his career. In 1895 Pittsburgh signed him to a contract and was the second-slot pitcher where he went 14-17 with a 4.75 ERA and 135 walks. Released and traded to the St. Louis Browns early the next year, it is here where Hart learned the spitball. “I met catcher
(Frank) Bowerman, who was with Baltimore that year. Calling me aside in St. Louis one day, he took the ball and requested me to get back of the catcher and watch his curves…I asked him what made the ball act so. He explained that he simply spit on the ball, held onto it with his thumb at the seam and let it go.”
Evidently, it took a while before Hart mastered the pitch as he struggled with a weak St. Louis club, leading the league with 29 losses. The next year he lost 27. By 1900 he was given another chance in Cleveland with Ban Johnson’s American League and in 1901 was used sparingly in a spot starter role, going 4-0 with 1 save in 46.1 innings with a 3.88 ERA. On May 19 he was called to start against the Detroit Tigers and used the spitball to great effect, allowing 2 hits in a 6-0 complete game shutout. The Blues released him in August and Chicago later picked him up for an astonishing two-year contract, perhaps enough time to teach young pitcher
Bob “Dusty” Rhoads the ol’ saliva shoot. Rhoads experienced a tough rookie campaign in 1901, going 0-6 in 6 starts. The popular rookie from Wooster, Ohio was just 7 years old when Hart broke into the majors.
Thrift’s Training Matrix – With Hart already knowing the spitball, or at least the 19th century version, considered less wet and thrown with less speed, he takes benefits of the learning the pitch immediately, hopefully in time to save his career. However, Hart has suffered arm injuries in the past that he attributes to the pitch, so his work ethic falters a bit in spring training and his reliance on the pitch in the future may waver. He did however score
good with the matrix. Hart’s veteran presence is a big boost for Dusty Rhoads, whose youthful know-it-all attitude surely hasn’t helped his winless record. However, Rhoads
ignored the veteran and won’t dabble with the spitball again until 1905.