Gaylord Perry did not just throw spitballs, he openly admitted to doctoring baseballs with various foreign substances throughout his 22-year Major League career. While popularly known for the spitball, his arsenal of illegal pitches—often called “greaseballs”—primarily relied on substances like Vaseline, K-Y Jelly, and petroleum jelly. I think he used Vagisil too, and he hit a dinger.
“Major League”
Rick Vaughn: [Seeing Harris take off his shirt, revealing white stuff on his chest] What’s that **** on your chest?
Eddie Harris: [Looking at his chest] Crisco.
Eddie Harris: [wiping it across his head]
Eddie Harris: Bardol.
Eddie Harris: [wiping it along his waist line]
Eddie Harris: Vagisil. Any one of them will give you another two to three inches’ drop on your curve ball. Of course, if the umps are watching me real close I’ll rub a little jalapeno up my nose, get it runnin’, and if I need to load the ball up, I just...
Eddie Harris: [wipes his nose]
Eddie Harris: ... wipe my nose.
Rick Vaughn: You put snot on the ball?
Eddie Harris: I haven’t got an arm like you, kid. I have to put anything on it I can find. Someday you will too.