Gone Baby Gone

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 Baseball’s 1920 ban on the spitball sparked a century-long debate over where gamesmanship ends and cheating begins — from “moist-ball artists” to spider tack, steroids, and everything in between.  

 In an age of fastballs and fear, Pirates pitcher Rip Sewell dared to lob a 25-mph rainbow called the Eephus — a trick pitch so slow it became a legend, a joke, and a little bit of both. 

 Before analytics and bench coaches, baseball’s sharpest minds wore the uniform — from Lou Boudreau to Pete Rose — leading from the field until the modern game made them extinct. 

 Rod Carew didn’t just steal home once — he did it seven times, turning one of baseball’s rarest, riskiest plays into a personal specialty that baffled pitchers, electrified crowds, and cemented his reputation as one of the smartest baserunners the game has ever seen.