When current Tampa Bay Ray Joe Nelson was in college his coach suggested he convert from being a shortstop/third baseman to becoming a pitcher; success was slow to come at first, until Nelson developed an effective split-fingered type pitch, inspired by his love of Star Trek. Gripping the ball in a “Vulcan”-style, Nelson has finally found success at the big league level.
Uncomfortable with the traditional grip between his index and middle fingers, Nelson one day moved the ball to between his middle and ring fingers — “I just jammed it in there one day” — and it worked. He began throwing it regularly at the University of San Francisco and never stopped.
Then, of course, he had to decide what to call it. “Old enough” at 34 to have watched Star Trek TV show reruns (and, apparently, lots of other questionable shows) in addition to several of the movies, he figured that was the way to go.
“It was either going to be Nanu Nanu from Mork & Mindy, or the Vulcan,” Nelson said. “And Spock just seemed like a cooler character than Mork did.”
The Slanch Report 
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