Russell William Ford (April 25, 1883 – January 24, 1960) was a Canadian-American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the New York Highlanders / Yankees of the American League from 1909 to 1913 and for the Buffalo Buffeds / Blues of the Federal League in 1914 and 1915. Ford is credited with developing the emery ball.

Born in Manitoba, Ford grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he began his baseball career. After he noticed how the ball moved after it was scuffed, he mastered how to doctor the baseball with a piece of emery paper hidden in his baseball glove. Using the pitch, Ford won 26 games in his rookie year with the Highlanders in 1910. After the pitch was outlawed in 1914, Ford's results declined, and his career ended in 1917. He is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

Ford was born in Brandon, Manitoba, on April 25, 1883. He was the third of five children born to Walter and Ida Ford. His mother was a second cousin of Grover Cleveland, who served as president of the United States. The Ford family moved to the United States when he was three years old, and settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota when he was 10 years old. He played sandlot ball in Minneapolis.

Russ' older brother, Gene Ford, also played in the major leagues. Gene pitched in seven games for the Detroit Tigers in 1905. His younger brother, Walter, played in the minor leagues.

Ford made his professional baseball debut in the Northern League with a team based in Enderlin, North Dakota, in 1904, but the team folded during the season. He continued playing in the 1904 season with a team in Lisbon, North Dakota. After a recommendation by his older brother, Ford was signed by Bill Watkins, the manager of the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, in July 1904. In April 1905, Watkins sold him to the Springfield Senators of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. In 1906, he pitched for the Cedar Rapids Rabbits of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. At the end of the 1906 season, the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association drafted Ford from Cedar Rapids.

In 1907, Ford discovered the emery ball, a pitch that was thrown with a ball that had been scuffed with a piece of emery. Ford came across the pitch by accident. When warming up with catcher Ed Sweeney under a grandstand due to rain, Ford accidentally threw a ball into a wooden upright, marking the surface. Ford threw another pitch with the damaged ball, and noticed how it curved more than previous pitches. He continued to study the effects of the rough patch on the wind resistance of the baseball when practicing, but did not yet begin to use it in a game.

Ford returned to Atlanta for the 1908 season, and his pitching began to draw attention from major league teams. The New York Highlanders of the American League purchased Ford from the Crackers.

Ford made his major league debut for the Highlanders against the Boston Red Sox on April 28, 1909, as a relief pitcher. He pitched three innings, allowing four runs on four hits, four walks, and three hit by pitches. After the game, the Highlanders demoted Ford to the Jersey City Skeeters of the Eastern League, where he spent the rest of the 1909 season. With Jersey City, he began to use the emery ball during games by hiding a piece of emery paper in his baseball glove. He pretended to be throwing a spitball, which was still legal at the time.