At 5’9” and 120 lbs., Candy Cummings hardly fit the mold of a Hall-of-Fame pitcher, but what he lacked in size he made up for with ingenuity: Cummings invented the curveball while pitching for the Brooklyn Excelsior Club in 1867. The team won every game he pitched for the next four years. Reflecting on Uncle Charlie’s debut against Harvard, Cummings recalled, “I said not a word, and saw many a batter at that game throw down his stick in disgust. Every time I was successful I could scarcely keep from dancing for pure joy. The secret was mine.”