Russ Ford

Infobox MLB retired
name=Russ Ford
position=Pitcher

---

bgcolor1=#1c2841
bgcolor2=#1c2841
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=April 25, 1883
city-state|Brandon|Manitoba
deathdate=death date and age|1960|1|24|1883|4|25
city-state|Rockingham|North Carolina
debutdate= April 28
debutyear= 1909
debutteam= New York Highlanders
finaldate=August 16
finalyear=1915
finalteam= Buffalo Blues
stat1label=Pitching record
stat1value=99-71
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=2.59
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=710
teams=
* New York Highlanders/Yankees (1909-1913)
* Buffalo Buffeds/Blues (1914-1915)
highlights=
* 3 20-win seasons

Russell William Ford (born April 25, 1883 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada – died January 24, 1960 in Rockingham, NC) was a baseball pitcher during the dead-ball era of the early 1900s.

Emery Ball

He is known as the creator of the "emery" or "scuff" ball, a pitch that was thrown with a ball that had been scuffed with a piece of emery. Ford won 26 games in his rookie season of by|1910, becoming only the third player in major league history to win 20 games and strike out at least 200 batters in his first season. (Christy Mathewson and Pete Alexander are the others)

Pitches

His pitch selection included his famed scuff/emery ball, a spitball, fastball, and knuckle ball. [The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches. Bill James and Rob Neyer. 2004. ]

Hall of Fame

Ford was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2002.

Brother

Russ' brother, Gene Ford, also played in the major leagues. Gene pitched in seven games for the Detroit Tigers in 1905.

See also

* List of Major League Baseball saves champions

References

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fordru01.shtml Baseball-Reference ] - career statistics and analysis
* [http://mopupduty.com/index.php/russ-ford/ Bio at Mop Up Duty]
* [http://www.halloffame.mb.ca/honoured/2002/rFord.htm Russ Ford’s biography] at [http://www.halloffame.mb.ca/ Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum]