BASEBALL 101: Part One, The Ball

So the season has begun and we’ve established that April is a time for spring training for the fans. Let’s go back to basics and learn more about the very basic tools about baseball. Baseball is played in many different parts of the world from the big luxury stadiums designed for Major League Baseball in the United States all the way down to the sandlots and backyards and city streets where a bunch of kids make it up as they go along. But there are some basics that everyone uses. Bats, balls, sometimes gloves, and something that designates bases. So as you are learning your team rosters and trying to match new names to new faces (or enjoying having the old faces back) let’s talk about Baseball 101. Let’s start with the ball.

You already know that a ball has 108 red stitches around a ball of white (the same number of beads that are in a rosary Annie swears in Bull Durham.) Here’s a couple other interesting things to impress your friends.

Delaware River Mud

11 dozen

Puerto Rico

Holstein Cows

Let’s start by getting our hands dirty. It surprised me to find out that in the Major League Games, those baseballs that looks so pristine and white on TV or at the ball field are all rubbed with mud before the game. Not just any mud, but Delaware River Mud, or more accurately Lena Blackburne Rubbing Mud. You see, those bright white balls are more easily seen by the batter. One website claims you can see a clean white ball from an airplane flying over a field. That puts the pitcher at a big disadvantage, though how anyone can see a 95 mph fast ball is beyond me anyway but I guess the whiter it is, the easier it is to see. Also, a shiny ball is harder to get a grip on for the pitcher. So to even up the score in the Big Leagues, the balls get rubbed with mud. Before 1939, seems like any old mud, or tobacco juice or shoe polish was good enough but a man named Lena Blackburne discovered a special kind of mud in the Delaware River that didn’t ruin the leather cover like some mud did or scratch up the surface. Now that’s the preferred mud that is used and it’s exact location of where the mud is harvested from is kept secret but it is know that it is somewhere on the Delaware River and in New Jersey. The mud is so famous that it was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1969. (Now, there’s baseball trivia for you!)

Sometimes it’s the umpire or an umpire’s assistant that gets the dirty duty and sometimes it is a special person assigned the task. It is an important task. You got to get it on even and in the seams.

(Note: a great present for a baseball fan friend is the "Got Mud?" tee shirt sold on the Lena Blackburne Rubbing Mud website. The Boyfriend wrote a great mandolin song called Delaware River Mud on his cd of original mandolin tunes called Alaska Mando.)

Used to be that just one ball would be used during the game until it was too damaged to use. Like other sports, such as football and soccer, if the ball went up into the stands, the fans either threw it back or an employee went up into the stands to retrieve it. But a batter named Ray Chapman got beaned in the head during a twilight game and it was thought it was because he couldn’t see the ball. So the switch to clean white balls began.

There’s another reason as well. Balls need to be clean and new (Blackburne’s mud notwithstanding) because a scuff or a scratch or a tear can change the projectory of the ball and that gives the advantage to the pitcher. One baseball guide said, “A scuff, scratch or tear on the ball will affect its flight, creating greater aerodynamic drag on one side of the ball … the ball will curve toward the scuffed side of the ball.” Remember those stories about pitchers keeping sandpaper in their pockets? That’s a big no-no, and gets you kicked out of the game. So if balls are scuffed, or damaged in any way, you’ll see the catcher hand the ball to the umpire who may inspect it and take it out of play. But it’s not thrown away. Balls not used in for major league play are used for batting practice the next day, or in some cases may even get sent to the Minor Leagues. In the Minors, they use balls until they fall apart.

In the Major Leagues, on average about six dozen balls are used during a game, though during a hard hitting games or a game with a fast ball pitcher and lots of fouls, up 11 dozen balls might be used in a single game. You know who I’m talking about. Those great batters with good eyes who will run the count up to 3 balls, 2 strikes, then proceed to foul off the ball for another four or five swings. So if you are watching the game and you get one of those batters up, slip in your trivia. Some might be fouled off into the stands, some go out of the park on a home run, some are taken out of play due to scuffing or dirt. Or if you are a lucky fan, an outfielder or one of the Seattle Mariner ball girls will toss a catch up to you.

All the balls used in Major League baseball are made to exact specifications by one manufacturer. The balls used in play are made by Rawlings and all have been manufactured in Puerto Rico since 1990. Si, es verdad! And before 1974, horsehide was used in making baseballs, but I guess a shortage of available horses caused a switch to cowhide. Best cows for making baseballs? Yep, Midwestern Holstein cows because they have clean, smooth hides. That one goes out to all the Milwaukee Brewer fans back in my home state of Wisconsin. Eat some deep fried cheese curds in my honor, okay?