John Montgomery "Monte" Ward, the second man to pitch a perfect game in professional baseball history, called the Nittany Valley home 150 years ago. He is also the first Penn State baseball player to throw a curveball -- he is sometimes incorrectly given credit for inventing the curveball -- witnessed by a crowd of students in front of Old Main. But Ward's place in baseball history is not only due to his impressive pitching and batting records: He was honored posthumously by the Hall of Fame in 1964 for revolutionizing the sport by leading a revolt against the unfair treatment from baseball's board of directors. His forward thinking prompted others to change the way the sport was regarded, as both a pastime and a business.