How do you throw a spitball? “The idea is to get part of your grip wet, and the other dry. When the ball leaves your hand, it slips off your wet fingers and clings, just tiny-like, to the dry part on your thumb. The ball jumps on account of it. If it’s a good ’un, it drops like a dead duck just when it crosses the plate. … When you let go you squeeze a little more on the fingers. Did you ever squeeze a peach pit, or a watermelon seed, and let it shoot out? It’s like that.” In the opening game of the 1949 World Series at Yankee Stadium, Allie Reynolds allowed Brooklyn only two hits as he and Newcombe matched zeroes until the bottom of the ninth. Tommy Henrich’s home run gave the Yankees the victory. Roe started Game Two against Vic Raschi. His parents were in the stands, the first time his mother had seen him pitch in the majors. The Dodgers took the lead in the second on Robinson’s double and Hodges’ two-out single. The Yankees’ biggest threats came after errors by Roe and Reese, but the pitcher escaped both times. In the fourth Johnny Lindell’s line shot tore off half the nail on the ring finger of Roe’s glove hand. The team doctor drilled a hole in the nail to relieve the swelling, and Roe pitched the rest of the game with a bandaged, throbbing finger. (He later learned it was broken.) he allowed just six hits and walked none; only one Yankee reached third base. After Brooklyn finished off the 1-0 victory, Branch Rickey hugged his naked, dripping-wet pitcher in the clubhouse and proclaimed, “That boy is an artist – a supreme artist.”
This is a special wallet made from a glove from before WWII. The Preacher Roe signature is stamped into the wallet on the lower front. Other glove stampings on are the other side allow with some unusual brown matching baseball stitches. Six side load cards pockets are on the inside along with the cash slot. This wallet measures 4.5" by 3.65" and has a thin profile. Don't expect to see more of these as 80 plus year old gloves are getting scarce