Eddie Cicotte 1906 Curveball Debut

Lore & Background

Cicotte was a key figure in the 1919 World Series fix, approached by gambler Joseph 'Sport' Sullivan alongside Chick Gandil. He was permanently banned from organized baseball by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

In Their Own Story

The air in South Side Park in 1906 smells like cut grass and coal smoke. Cicotte steps to the rubber, and you can see it in his hands—the fingers are set differently, the grip is tighter, the wrist cocked a fraction more than a straight-ball delivery would call for. The batter, a big righty from the other side of the city, is watching the release point with the bored confidence of a man who has seen Cicotte a hundred times. The ball leaves the hand. For a half-second it looks like a fastball. Then it bends. Not a little. It *bends*. The bat swings through air. The catcher is a beat slow to react. The crowd goes from a murmur to a roar in the same breath. Cicotte doesn't celebrate. He just looks at the batter, then back at the mound, and you can see the question in his eyes: *Was that real? Can I do that again?* He can. He can do that a hundred times. And the game will never be the same.

Reader's Guide

Cicotte's career statistics and role in the scandal are documented in the source article, but details about his early curveball development are not provided.

Did You Know?

• Eddie Cicotte was one of eight White Sox players banned for life for throwing the 1919 World Series.
• Cicotte was approached by gambler Joseph 'Sport' Sullivan along with Chick Gandil to fix the 1919 World Series.