Russ Ford

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.

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 * Team(s) = New York Highlanders/Yankees (1909-1913), Buffalo Buffeds/Blues (1914-1915)

Background
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 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)

His pitch selection included his famed scuff/emery ball, a spitball,  fastball, and knuckle ball.

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

Brother Gene Ford also played in the major leagues, pitching in seven games for the Detroit Tigers in 1907