It's not entirely certain that William "Candy" Cummings actually deserves credit for inventing the curve ball. Some sources credit a pitcher named Fred Goldsmith, who is known to have demonstrated the pitch in Brooklyn as early as 1869. Cummings always claimed he first threw the pitch in 1864, discovering the trick while tossing clam shells. (He would have been only 15 at the time.) It is entirely possible that the curve was first developed by some anonymous pitcher whose name has been forever lost.

What is known is that by 1872, Cummings' "curve ball" was baffling hitters in the National Association. He won 33 games that season for the Mutuals.

But it was in Hartford in 1875 that Cummings enjoyed his finest season. Starting and finishing 47 games, Cummings won 35 and lost just 12, third best in the league behind only Boston's Albert Spalding and Philadelphia's Dick McBride, both of whom played on superior teams. Although strikeout records for the National Association years are sketchy, Cummings is believed to have ranked at the top among pitchers in that category as well. For his achievements, but in large measure as a recognition of his invention of the curve ball, William "Candy" Cummings was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.

ELSEWHERE IN BASEBALL

Joe Borden of the Red Stockings throws the first no-hitter in a professional league, defeating the White Stockings 4-0 on July 28. In the first professional game involving women, the "Blondes" beat the "Brunettes" 42-38 Sept. 11.

IN THE WORLD

Congress passes the last Reconstruction Era civil rights legislation, barring exclusion of blacks from juries. Within two years, Reconstruction will be ended and the Jim Crow age will begin.