CURVES

Didja ever hear of William Arthur Cummings?   Hint!  He was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. 

His nickname was "Candy".   Here's the scoop.  Candy Cummings is credited with the invention of the "curve ball."  Wow!

Candy played about the time the Cincinnati Reds went professional.  Born in 1849, he was a star amateur baseball pitcher in the New York area during and right after the Civil War.  Baseball was becoming very popular.  Until 1865, no pitcher had ever thrown a curve ball - on purpose.  Candy figured out how to do it - supposedly from throwing shells into the ocean. 

At 17 years old and 5'9" 120 lbs, he and his curve recorded a 37-2 record for a Brooklyn amateur team.  The next year he pitched for the Brooklyn Excelsiors -  the prominent New York team of the era. 

Four years later, in 1871, Cummings was named the most outstanding ball player in America.  He bounced from team to team by accepting increasingly higher contract offers.  In 1876, he pitched and won two complete games in one day.  After the 1877 season, he retired (age 28) to become the first president of the International Association (baseball league). 

Has anyone thrown you a curve lately?  Remember "Candy" Cummings.  Find a better way of doing something.