WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The Old Ballgame: The First Curveball

Episode Date: February 1, 2024

A look at the man behind one of baseball's greatest inventions.

Welcome to the Old Ball game, where we talk about the past of America's favorite pastime. I'm Tate Christensen. Today we talk about Candy Cummings, a major league pitcher and inventor of the curveball. William Arthur Cummings was born in Ware, Massachusetts on October 18, 1848. He attended Folly Seminary in Fulton, New York, where he played as a pitcher for the baseball team, from 1864 to 1866. At the age of 17, he began to play with the National Association of Baseball Players, playing with the Brooklyn Club Excelsior. He was called Candy by fellow players because of his outstanding pitching skills. These skills led him to mess around with the way in which he threw the baseball,

leading him to the invention of the curveball, a new invention for the sport of baseball. The curveball left opposing batter stumped and frustrated, which filled Cummings with joy. Cummings died on May 17, 1924, and was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1939. This has been the old ball game on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.