What is an emery board?
Emery boards are flexible strips coated in emery, an extremely hard ground mineral. Essentially, they are like sandpaper for the body, and they are most commonly used to shape and trim nails. Most drugstores and beauty supplies carry emery boards, as do salons, and they can be very useful tools to have around the house.
What are some of baseball's most memorable ejections?
Though less common nowadays, the emery board led to one of baseball's most memorable ejections. In 1987, umpires asked Twins pitcher Joe Niekro to spill the contents of his pockets after he threw a few pitches that seemed to defy physics. Niekro complied, sort of, by trying to quietly toss away a nail file he'd hidden in his back pocket.
Can you use an emery board to file down calluses?
In addition to being used on the nails, emery boards can also be used to file down calluses. Learning to use an emery board is quite easy; the trick is to use very light, even strokes, and to run the emery board in a consistent direction across the nail or callus.
What does sandpaper do to a baseball?
Sandpaper acts in much the same way as an emery board, as it mars a ball's surface to induce unconventional flight patterns. Former Tigers pitcher Brian Moehler once brazenly stuck sandpaper on his thumb during a game which, when found, immediately resulted in his ejection.
How is emery board used for in baseball?
Baseball pitchers and cricket bowlers have been known to use emery boards to scuff the outside of the ball. The roughness can offer more grip and hand control. Surface scratches also alter the ball's aerodynamics making it more susceptible to spin and movement when in flight.
What does sandpaper do to a baseball?
Ford soon learned that by making a rough patch on one side of the ball, he could use the rough spot to get a firmer grip on the ball and increase the spin rate as he threw, making it harder to hit. Ford first used the pitch in a game in 1909, hiding a piece of emery paper in his baseball glove.
What do pitchers put on their hands to cheat?
It's about supercharged formulas that dramatically helped alter the balance of power between pitcher and hitter — we've come a long way from Gaylord Perry's Vaseline and KY Jelly — and the most notable of these substances is an extremely sticky, web-like pasty material called Spider Tack.Jun 14, 2021
What does putting Vaseline on a baseball do?
Pitchers use the “sticky stuff”, like pine tar, to improve the grip and increase the ball rotation. With vaseline, it's the other way around, the goal is to inhibit the rotation. Basically, it helps them throw one of the toughest pitches in baseball, the knuckleball.
Why do pitchers use emery boards?
Enter the emery board, or nail file, a tool so devious baseball players named a pitch after it. Invented over a century ago, the pitch involves scuffing the ball's surface to help it dramatically change course mid-air, making it much more difficult to hit. You can see that phenomenon in action with whiffle balls here.Jan 8, 2015
What is doctoring a baseball?
Definition. No player is permitted to intentionally damage, deface or discolor the baseball by rubbing it with any type of foreign item or substance, including dirt or saliva. Failure to follow this rule will result in an ejection and an automatic 10-game suspension.
Is Spider tack illegal in MLB?
Pitchers aren't allowed to put any foreign substance directly on the baseball and rosin is the only substance they can put on their hand.Jun 17, 2021
Why is pine tar illegal in baseball?
Pine tar is also sometimes used illegally by pitchers to improve their grip on the ball in cold weather. This is not allowed due to a regulation prohibiting the application of any foreign substance to a ball (except grip-improving baseball rubbing mud applied by the umpires).
Why does the UMP check the pitchers glove?
Umpires Are Checking Pitchers' Hats and Gloves to Make Baseball More Exciting. When it comes to the highest levels of competition, there are always cheaters trying to get one over on their opponent so they can be the best in the business. Granted, there are various layers of bending the rules.Oct 12, 2021
Why do they change baseballs when it hits the dirt?
Catchers constantly change baseballs because it is a rule set by the MLB and enforced by umpires. If an umpire notices a ball is scuffed or has dirt on it, a brand new baseball must be introduced into the game. This rule is in place to ensure hitters are able to clearly see every pitch.
What pitches are illegal in baseball?
This seems to meet the definition of "illegal pitch" in the MLB rulebook, which reads, "An ILLEGAL PITCH is (1) a pitch delivered to the batter when the pitcher does not have his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher's plate; (2) a quick return pitch. An illegal pitch when runners are on base is a balk."Apr 14, 2015
Are there any illegal pitches in baseball?
An illegal pitch may be quick pitch (i.e. a pitch made before the batter is properly set in the batter's box), a pitch made while the pitcher is not in contact with the pitching rubber, or one in which he takes an extra step while making his delivery.May 31, 2020
What is an emery board?
Emery boards are flexible strips coated in emery, an extremely hard ground mineral. Essentially, they are like sandpaper for the body, and they are most commonly used to shape and trim nails. Most drugstores and beauty supplies carry emery boards, as do salons, and they can be very useful tools to have around the house.
Why do you need to check emery boards?
Because emery is so hard, it typically takes only a few strokes to smooth and shape a nail, or to file down a callus, so it's a good idea to check after every few strokes to see how things look. Emery boards are one of the most common types of nail files. For people who perform manicures and pedicures professionally, ...
Can you use an emery board to file down calluses?
In addition to being used on the nails, emery boards can also be used to file down calluses. Learning to use an emery board is quite easy; the trick is to use very light, even strokes, and to run the emery board in a consistent direction across the nail or callus.
What is an emery ball?
Illegal baseball pitch. Russ Ford developed the emery ball. An emery ball is an illegal pitch in baseball, in which the ball has been altered by scuffing it with a rough surface, such as an emery board or sandpaper. Players have also used wedding rings, belt buckles, and shin guards to scuff the baseball. This technique alters the spin of the ball, ...
How is an emery ball doctored?
The emery ball differs from the spitball, in which the ball is doctored by applying saliva or vaseline. Vaseline or saliva smooths the baseball, while the emery paper roughens it. Russ Ford discovered the emery ball in the minor leagues in 1907 when he saw what a scuff on ...
What is the term for altering the ball in any way?
The general term for altering the ball in any way is doctoring.
Who was accused of scuffing baseballs?
He denied doing it in 1961, the year he won the Cy Young Award. Don Sutton was often accused of scuffing baseballs during his career. Tommy John was also accused. Rick Honeycutt was caught with a thumbtack taped to his thumb and sandpaper hidden in his glove on September 30, 1980.
Who taught Vean Gregg the emery ball?
Another origin story suggests that George Kahler of the Cleveland Indians discovered the pitch and taught it to Vean Gregg. When Gregg went to the Boston Red Sox, he taught it to Smoky Joe Wood. In The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, Rob Neyer and Bill James refer to Kahler as the second pitcher to use the emery ball.
Who taught the pitchers to use emery paper?
He began keeping emery paper in his baseball glove. Though he initially kept the pitch a secret, he had to inform his catcher, Ed Sweeney, about it. Sweeney taught it to other pitchers, and the pitch was discovered when an umpire found emery paper in Ray Keating 's glove in 1914.
Who taught the emery ball to Cy Falkenberg?
Gardner went to the Toledo Iron Men of the American Association in 1912, where he taught the pitch to Cy Falkenberg. Other pitchers began to learn to throw the emery ball, and it was suspected that Sweeney taught them.
Who invented the emery ball?
Emery ball. From BR Bullpen. The Emery Ball is a pitch, "invented" by pitcher Russell Ford, which relies on scarring or roughening part of the baseball in order to achieve an unnatural break.
What does "spitball" mean in baseball?
Not only was the spitball legal pitch at the time, it literally meant moistening the ball with saliva or mucus, as opposed to the modern day usage to refer to any doctored baseball. The exceptional break from the emery ball was merely seen as proof of Ford's excellence as a spitballer.
Is the spit ball fair to the fielders?
The spit ball isn't fair to the fielders.". - Manager and former pitcher Clark Griffith, decrying the effects of the spit ball and emery ball. "Whatever I am able to get on the fast ball in the way of sudden breaks comes wholly from the way in which I hold the ball and deliver it.
