Origins of the F-ckball

Oil on ceramic tile: 13" by 17"

When I was young and learning the game of baseball, I would get together with friends and make up pitches.

There were the usual reverse wrist twists and knuckle sliders and weird stuff like that, things no one would throw for obvious reasons, but the best pitch we came up with was the f-ckball.

The f-ckball was gripped, as it sounds, with the middle finger only, and thrown like a conventional two finger fastball. It was uncontrollable and impractical, so we wouldn't try it in action, but it would have been cool as snot to say you struck a guy out throwing it.

This is a commissioned painting of a farmyard in central Minnesota. I don't generally do this kind of piece, but it turned out well enough anyway.

Thank you.