One of the nerdier debates among baseball scholars is the debate over which player should receive credit for the curveball: Candy Cummings or Fred Goldsmith? The rival pitchers have both received credit though Cummings is generally credited with throwing the first known curveball during an 1867 game. Goldsmith however is credited with being the first to publicly demonstrate the pitch explaining it to Henry Chadwick on August 16 1870 at the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn. Goldsmith's writing on the card reads as follows: Fred E Goldsmith Winner of five worlds Championships. Demonstrated first curve ball on Capotelene grounds N.Y. Aug 27th 1870 formally with Chigo White Stockings & am now 81 years of age. Sincerely yours An outstanding piece of early baseball history the card has been authenticated and encapsulated by PSA/DNA who have assigned a grade of MINT 9 to the Goldsmith signature. Goldsmith inscribed this card just a year prior to his passing in 1939 and while his recollection of dates is suspect (Goldsmith long claimed that Chadwick's account of the demonstration was published in the August 17 issue of the Brooklyn Eagle though no such account can be found in that issue) his assertion even here revives the debate: is Goldsmith taking credit here for throwing the first curve? Or his he simply taking credit for the demonstration? Goldsmith's signature is remarkably rare; one so directly addressing the controversy is all the more desirable.