Walt Whitman was really pissed off about the curve ball.  In the poet’s prime, in a developmental stage of baseball, around the time of early unrest when Blues battled Grays, the pitcher lobbed the ball underhanded to the batter. His objective was to allow the batter to club the ball, making play more lively.  A baseball game without many hits is today the major complaint of someone who professes to dislike the game because nothing much happens. Because it’s boring, they say.