Truett "Rip" Sewell is not just known for his long run with the Pittsburgh Pirates, as it is Sewell who gave the world the "Eephus."

Sewell first made the Majors with the Detroit Tigers for five Games in 1932, but it was mostly known for Hank Greenberg beating him up.  He finally made it back to the big league with Pittsburgh in 1938, but as Sewell was now in his early 30s, he had to learn how to use every bit of guile and trickery to get outs.

Making the Pirates starting rotation in 1940, Sewell had an occasional pitch called the “Eephus," which was so off-speed that it just blooped over home plate, confusing batters who had years of conditioning to hit a baseball at much faster speeds.  He was named to four All-Star Teams and led the NL in Wins (21) in 1943, duplicating that number the season after.  Sewell’s best seasons were during the talented-depleted World War II, but that should not penalize him, as it was a factor beyond his control.

Overall, Sewell had 143 Wins against 97 Losses with a 3.43 ERA.