Stricklett is often credited with introducing the spitball to the major leagues, though it was his disciples, Jack Chesbro and Ed Walsh, who became Hall of Famers with it. He was a sore-armed minor leaguer in 1904 when he learned the pitch from its accidental discoverer, George Hildebrand. Stricklett approved the banning of the spitball years later, believing it was too dangerous and hard to control. (JK)
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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»May 29, 1905: The Giants split an a.m.-p.m. twinbill with Brooklyn, winning the morning game 7-2 and dropping the nitecap, 4-3. Elmer Stricklett, an early proponent of the spitball, allows just five Giant hits in the win.
»September 20, 1907: Every player but one is hitless in the Pittsburgh-Brooklyn game, won by the Pirates, 2-1. Twenty-year-old rookie Nick Maddox, making his 3rd appearance, allows no Superbas hits for the first Pittsburgh 9-inning no-hitter. Pirate manager Fred Clarke gets the only two hits given up by Elmer Stricklett, but neither safety figures in the scoring: all three runs in the game are unearned. Earlier in the year, Maddox hurled two no-hitters while at Wheeling (Central League).
»January 15, 1912: Former Brooklyn P Elmer Stricklett, said to be the inventor of the spitball, is reinstated by the National Commission after playing outside organized baseball for three years. But he does not make it back to the major leagues.
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