Creator of the Curve

When Candy Cummings played ball it was normal for the catcher to stand 20 or 25 feet behind the plate and catch the ball well after it had lost its momentum. A catcher named Nat Hicks changed all that and would set up right behind the plate. When his Brooklyn Stars acquired Hicks it gave Cummings a chance to try a pitch he had thought of while throwing sea shells into the ocean. Thus was the curve ball born and the 120 pound Candy-man became not only a dominant chucker but a baseball legend and it paved his way to Cooperstown.

William "Candy" Cummings