Is there a connection in the game today to Frank Shellenback? Yes there is! The most notable connection is Phil Regan, who had a fairly good spitball. Regan went on to become a manager, coach and pitching coach, including coaching on the 2000 U.S. Olympic baseball team, with pitchers Ryan Franklin, Roy Oswalt, Bobby Seay and Ben Sheets*.

* Tin foil hat time, folks.

In many ways we can point the rise and fall of the spitball to one person: Frank Shellenback, the Sinister Minister of the Spitball.

– Mat Kovach, The Hardball Times.

A good read from The Hardball Times about the history of the Major Leagues’ most reviled pitch. Kovach credits the resurgence of the spitball to Frank Shellenback, and — though he doesn’t say it outright — seems to suggest that as Shellenback’s legacy wanes, so does the spitball.

I wonder if spitballs, vaseline balls, snotballs, scuffed balls and doctored balls of all varieties are quickly becoming a thing of the past thanks to modern technology. It seems like with the number of HD cameras in stadiums now, a pitcher would need to be David Blaine to get away with it with any regularity. Of course, I guess some subtle sandpaper in the glove could still go unnoticed.