Russ Ford

Russell William Ford

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.

• Debut April 28, 1909
• Final Game August 16, 1915
• Born April 25, 1883 in Brandon, MB CAN
• Died January 24, 1960 in Rockingham, NC USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Ford, about 1912

Russ Ford dominated the American League and the Federal League for a few seasons thanks to his devastating emery ball. The emery ball was a nominally illegal pitch that involved doctoring the baseball by scuffing it with emery paper. Ford disguised his illegal modification by claiming to throw a spitball, though he came clean about his technique after retiring. Other pitchers apparently figured out that he was getting away with scuffing and copied both his approach and the dodge of claiming that their pitches were spitballs. He is the brother of Gene Ford.

He is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Notable Achievements

• FL Winning Percentage Leader (1914)
• FL Saves Leader (1914)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 3 (1910, 1911 & 1914)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 3 (1910, 1911 & 1914)
• 25 Wins Seasons: 1 (1910)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 5 (1910-1914)
• 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 1 (1910)

Further Reading

• Gary Belleville: "July 19, 1910: Russ Ford loses no-hitter in ninth on misjudged fly ball," SABR Baseball Games Project.
• T. Kent Morgan and David Jones: "Russ Ford," SABR BioProject.
• Unknown: "Russ Ford," Mop-Up Duty.