JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
Ah, the mechanics of curving a baseball as found in the summery summertime pages of Scientific American, August 18, 1877, page 100. The author, an “H.C.”, admits that they might not be correct, but they’re going with it anyway, at least at this time.
Also I should point out that “curveball” appears in print for the first time only two years earlier, at least that is so by the Oxford ENglish Dictionary:
- “Curveball. Baseball. A delivery in which the pitcher causes the ball to deviate from a straight path by imparting spin.”
- “1875 Providence (Rhode Island) Evening Press 4 Oct. Both sides batted heavily and by the close score made an exciting game. Macullar played worthy of a professional, and the tricky Bancker sent in his curve balls with telling effect.”
And as long as we’re at it, the chronology of first appearance publications of baseball-related things, according again to the OED, include the following: baseball, 1845; baseball player, 1856; baseball game, 1857; baseball bat, 1858; shirt, 1860; cap, 1865; team, 1869; diamond, 1871; glove, 1884; and baseball fan, 1885. Odd, no, that “baseball fan” appears 40 years after “baseball”?
