Russ Ford

For the Australian field hockey player, see Russell Ford (field hockey).

Russ Ford
Pitcher
Born: April 25, 1883(1883-04-25) Brandon, Manitoba
Died: January 24, 1960(1960-01-24) (aged 76) Rockingham, North Carolina
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 28, 1909 for the New York Highlanders
Last MLB appearance
August 16, 1915 for the Buffalo Blues
Career statistics
Win-loss record	99-71
Earned run average	2.59
Strikeouts	710
Teams
New York Highlanders/Yankees (1909–1913) Buffalo Buffeds/Blues (1914–1915)
Career highlights and awards
3 20-win seasons

Russell William Ford (April 25, 1883 – January 24, 1960) was a Major League Baseball pitcher during the dead-ball era of the early 1900s.

Emery Ball

Ford is best-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 the famed scuff/emery ball, a spitball, fastball, and knuckle ball.

Russ Ford

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

External links

• Baseball-Reference - career statistics and analysis
• Biography at Mop Up Duty
• Russ Ford’s biography at Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum