The Okmulgee Drillers were a minor league baseball team that played in the Western Association from 1920 to 1927. They were based in Okmulgee, Oklahoma . They played in two ballparks during their eight years of existence, both of which came to be known as Petrolia Park .
25-539: Under managers Whitey Hensling and Ed Brennan in 1920, the Drillers went 83-46, finishing first in the standings. They tied for the league championship that season. In 1921, they had three or four different managers. One source says they were managed by Frank Herriott, Harry Womack and Johnny Wuffli, while other sources indicate that Ed Klepfer managed them as well. They finished seventh in the standings that season, going 71-76. Under managers Wuffli and Troy Agnew in 1922,
50-639: A baseball/softball diamond. Ed Klepfer Edward Lloyd Klepfer (March 17, 1888 – August 9, 1950) was an American spitball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees , Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians in a span of six seasons between 1911 and 1919. Klepfer, commonly known as "Big Ed", was born on March 17, 1888, in Summerville, Pennsylvania . He batted and threw right-handed and
75-499: A few blocks south of the fairgrounds. Although initially referenced as the town athletic park, the new field soon was being labeled in game announcements as Petrolia Park. The Drillers played at this new Petrolia Park site until the end of 1927, which was the last season of professional baseball in Okmulgee. By 1952, the later Petrolia Park site had reverted back to use as a city park, known as Hospital Park. The Okmulgee Primary School
100-516: A hospital in Tulsa. His body was laid to rest at Rose Hill Cemetery. On August 21, 1915, the White Sox traded Klepfer along with Larry Chappell , Braggo Roth and cash for Shoeless Joe Jackson . Spitball A spitball is a now-illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly . This technique alters
125-485: A new athletic field to host both the Drillers and other sports activities. The new field was located between North Okmulgee and North Seminole Avenues, just north of what was then the City Hospital, on a parcel that was previously reserved for a park. The hospital was located between North Okmulgee and North Seminole Avenues on the south side of Belmont Street, placing this new field on the north side of Belmont, just
150-575: A pitch. Preacher Roe , who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s, was renowned both for his ability to control the spitball and to throw it without getting caught and described his methodology in a 1955 article in Sports Illustrated . "The Outlawed Spitball Was My Money Pitch" was published a year after he retired. Another famous user of the pitch was Gaylord Perry , who went so far as to title his autobiography Me and
175-436: A poorly lit game. In Major League Baseball (MLB), the spitball was banned in two stages. In the winter of 1919–1920, managers voted to partially ban the spitball. Each team was allowed to designate up to two pitchers who would be permitted to throw spitballs. After the 1920 season, the use of the spitball was banned with the exception of a group of 17 existing spitballers, who became legacy spitballers who were allowed to throw
200-405: Is sometimes used to describe a pitch that moves like a spitball without saliva, such as the forkball or split-finger fastball . It is sometimes used simply as slang for the knuckleball . There is also the remote term of God-given spitter , which is when the ball is naturally dampened by moist air or light rainfall, which allows pitchers to be able to throw pitches with sharper breaks, much like
225-442: The wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to move in an atypical manner. It may also cause the ball to "slip" out of the pitcher's fingers without the usual spin that accompanies a pitch. In this sense, a spitball can be thought of as a fastball with knuckleball action. Alternative names for the spitball are spitter , mud ball , shine ball , supersinker , or vaseline ball (because originally, Vaseline
250-415: The Drillers finished fifth in the standings, going 56-79. They improved drastically in 1923 under manager Agnew, going 81-63 and finishing third in the league. They made it to the league finals, but lost. The Drillers' 1924 team is recognized as being the 49th greatest minor league team of all time . Under manager Agnew, they finished 110-48 that season, good for first in the league. They performed well in
275-504: The Spitter and chronicled the clever ways in which he avoided detection. For example, Perry would put Vaseline on his zipper because umpires would never check a player's groin. Don Drysdale also used the pitch regularly, as did Lew Burdette . Drysdale would apply oil to the back of his hair to put on the ball to make it sink. Mike Fiers has been accused of doctoring the baseball during both his no-hitters. The name dry spitter
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#1732793946718300-529: The diamond had been used as the spring training site for the Omaha Rourkes minor league team from the Class A Western League . Press reports show that this iteration of Petrolia Park, used by the Drillers in their first two seasons, was located on the former Okmulgee County, Oklahoma fairgrounds site on the east side of North Okmulgee Avenue. The fairgrounds grandstand used in 1921 was the same one used in
325-428: The inaugural 1920 season, but the alignment of the field was tilted further to the right to address concerns that the fans' view of players was being obscured by the late afternoon sun. Although the ballpark sometimes was referenced in terms of its location at the fairgrounds, local press accounts also referred to this field as Petrolia Park. In 1922, due to dissatisfaction with the fairgrounds site, construction began on
350-623: The pitch legally until they retired. Of the exempted group, Burleigh Grimes lasted the longest, retiring in 1934. The complete list of exempted spitballers is: Ray Fisher (played through 1920); Doc Ayers (1921); Ray Caldwell (1921); Phil Douglas (1922); Dana Fillingim (1925); Marv Goodwin (1925); Dutch Leonard (1925); Allen Russell (1925); Allen Sothoron (1926); Dick Rudolph (1927); Stan Coveleski (1928); Urban Shocker (1928); Bill Doak (1929); Clarence Mitchell (1932); Red Faber (1933); Jack Quinn (1933); and Grimes. In March 1955, MLB Commissioner Ford Frick advocated for
375-402: The popularity of "freak deliveries" led to a great deal of controversy throughout the 1910s regarding the abolition of the spitball and related pitches. In his autobiography , Ty Cobb wrote that such "freak pitches [...] were outlawed when the owners greedily sold out to home runs ." In addition, there were serious issues with the spitball, including some that affected safety. A variation on
400-585: The postseason, winning the league championship. They were led offensively by Bud Davis and Cecil Davis, who hit .400 with 51 home runs and 190 RBI and .364 with 51 home runs and 162 RBI, respectively. Joe Bratcher hit .383 with 23 home runs and Bill Stellbauer hit .369 with 32 home runs as well. Their pitcher staff featured three twenty game winners: Guy Cantrell (21-7, 4.57 ERA), Jim Lyle (23-13, 3.97 ERA) and perhaps their best pitcher, Jim Walkup (23-3, 2.60 ERA). Wilcy Moore also went 17-6, and Walt Tauscher went 12-4. The Drillers would never again match
425-601: The return of the spitball, telling a sportswriter, "If I had my way, I'd legalize the old spitter. It was a great pitch and one of the easiest to throw. There was nothing dangerous about it." Despite the Commissioner's enthusiasm, the pitch remained illegal. The spitball is now banned in Major League baseball. It is a pitching violation in NCAA Baseball. However, it is still sometimes thrown in violation of
450-431: The rules. In 1942 , Leo Durocher , then-manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers , fined Bobo Newsom for throwing a spitball and "lying to me about it." Typically, a lubricant is hidden behind the pitcher's knee or under the peak of his cap. Others will place the ball in their mitt and then cough on or lick it. Another tactic pitchers use is to soak their hair in water before going out to the mound, and then rub their hair before
475-485: The spitball throughout the latter half of the 19th century, and it remains unlikely that any one individual "invented" the spitball. Ed Walsh , however, is certainly responsible for popularizing it. Walsh dominated the American League from 1906 to 1912, primarily on the strength of his spitball, and pitchers around the league soon copied his spitball or invented their own trick pitch. The dramatic increase in
500-448: The standard spitball called for the pitcher to smear the entire surface of the normally white ball with a mixture of tobacco spittle and dirt or mud in order to stain it the same deep brown color as the infield which made it nearly impossible for batters to see (and sometimes avoid) in low-light conditions. In August 1920, Ray Chapman was killed when he was struck in the temple by a pitch thrown by known spitball pitcher Carl Mays during
525-415: The success they had in 1924. In 1925, they finished with an 80-71 record under managers Roy Corgan and Red Snapp , placing third in the league. Under Chick Mattick in 1926, they finished fourth in the league with a 73-85 record, and in 1927 they finished fifth in the league with a 57-75 record under manager Troy Agnew. In their inaugural season, the Drillers began play at Petrolia Park , taking over after
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#1732793946718550-657: Was also 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), 180 pounds, and attended Penn State University . Klepfer made his big league debut on July 4, 1911, with the Highlanders. His career was chopped up due to time spent fighting in World War I , as part of the American Expeditionary Forces in France. At one time in his war fighting tenure, he was gassed. Perhaps the most extraordinary part of his career
575-672: Was his second to last season-1917. He went 14–4 with a 2.37 ERA in 213 innings. He finished his career with a 22–17 record and a 2.98 ERA in 98 games. Even though Klepfer was a fairly productive pitcher, he will still go down in history as one of the worst hitters (pitcher or otherwise) to ever step on the diamond. In 125 career at-bats, he collected 6 hits for a paltry .048 batting average . He played his last game on September 5, 1919. After baseball, Klepfer became an independent oil operator and then in 1946 went to work for C.W. Titus, an oilman in Tulsa, Oklahoma . Klepfer died on August 9, 1950, in
600-444: Was subsequently built on the site, and remains there today. The fairgrounds where the original Petrolia Park was located still featured a ballpark as of 1952. The fairgrounds were later altered by Works Progress Administration projects, and by the 1970s the county fair was moved to a different fairgrounds location further to the north. The land occupied by the former fairgrounds now is used as Hawthorn Park, whose amenities still include
625-523: Was used to give the ball a little more break ). A spitball technically differs from an emery ball , in which the surface of the ball is cut or abraded. Saliva or Vaseline smooths the baseball, while the emery paper roughens it. The general term for altering the ball in any way is doctoring . The invention of the spitball has been popularly credited to a number of individuals, among them Elmer Stricklett and Frank Corridon . Numerous accounts, however, refer to different players experimenting with versions of
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