Ed Walsh's Spitball

Ed Walsh's Spitball
Origin	Ed Walsh
Type	Baseball
Effects	Passes through the first solid object it comes in contact with
Downsides	Unhygienic
Activation	Spitting on the ball and throwing it
Collected by	Jack Secord and Rebecca St. Claire
Section	Olympia-776BC
Date of Collection	November 21st, 1954
[Source]

Origin

Ed Walsh was an American Major League Baseball pitcher made famous for his use of the "spitball". The spitball is an illegal move banned in 1920 where a baseball is coated with a lubricating substance such as saliva, Vaseline, chewing tobacco, etc. The lubricant would affect the weight and surface area of one side of the ball, giving it an odd trajectory when thrown.

Despite the fact that the move was banned, several players were "grandfathered in", and did not have to observe the rule. A quote from Hall of Famer Sam Crawford described Walsh's use of the move. Crawford said, "He threw a spitball. I think that ball disintegrated on the way to the plate, and the catcher put it back together again. I swear, when it went past the plate, it was just the spit went by".

Effects

When the ball comes into contact with saliva and is thrown the ball will pass through the first solid object it comes into contact with. After the first object has been passed the ball will become solid again.

Collection

Collected by Jack and Rebecca from the Baseball Hall of Fame shortly after Walsh was inducted into it.

When the ball comes in contact with Love Potion No. 9, the effects combine to form an interesting new effect. When the potion soaked ball is thrown at a person it will harmlessly pass through them. After passing through the first person the ball will lose its intangibility and become solid. The next person who gets hit with the ball will fall madly in love with the initial target that the ball phased through.