A product of the Pennsylvania coal mines, Stan Coveleski learned control as a youngster by throwing
rocks at tin cans that swung from a tree. Though he pitched a shutout in his first big league start with
the Athletics in 1912, it was the spitball he later learned in the minor leagues that helped make him a
star. A five-time 20-game winner with Cleveland and Washington en route to 215 career victories, he
emerged as the hero in the 1920 World Series, with three complete-game wins against Brooklyn while
yielding only two runs.