Baseball (ball)

It consists of a rubber or cork center wrapped in yarn and covered with white natural horsehide or cowhide, or a synthetic composite leather.

Early baseballs were made with a rubber core from old, melted shoes, wrapped in yarn and leather.

Lemon peel balls were darker, smaller, and weighed less than other baseballs, prompting them to travel further and bounce higher, causing very high-scoring games.

During World War II, the United States banned the use of rubber for non war-related goods, including for baseballs.

So in 1943, instead of using rubber, baseballs were made with rubber-like shells of balata (also used in golf balls), which is obtained from a particular type of tropical tree.

[5] A significant increase in the number of home runs since the start of the 2016 baseball season caused MLB officials to establish a committee that would examine the manufacturing process.

In December 2019, MLB officials said that a lower stitching seam profile had most likely led to the increase in home runs, but also pledged to consider studying the issue.

On February 5, 2021, MLB issued a memo that said that Rawlings had altered their manufacturing process to reduce the bounce in the balls and that after extensive testing, "... we are comfortable that these baseballs meet all of our performance specifications."

In recent years, various synthetic materials have been used to create baseballs; however, they are generally considered lower quality, stitched with two red thick thread, and are not used in the major leagues.

Since the baseballs used today are wound tighter than in previous years, notably the dead-ball era that prevailed through 1920, people often say the ball is "juiced".

[citation needed] Baseballs used in MLB and the top minor leagues (AAA) are made to the same specifications, but labelled separately.

[citation needed] In 1901, the Spalding and Reach companies manufactured the official baseballs for the National and American Leagues, respectively, at a listed unit price of $1.25 each, which would be equal to $46 today.

Balls hit into the stands were retrieved by team employees in order to be put back in play, as is still done today in some other sports.

[9] Over the course of a game, a typical ball would become discolored due to dirt, and often tobacco juice and other materials applied by players; damage would also occur, causing slight rips and seam bursts.

However, after the 1920 death of batter Ray Chapman after being hit in the head by a pitch, perhaps due to his difficulty in seeing the ball during twilight, an effort was made to replace dirty or worn baseballs.

However, even though scores of new balls are used nowadays in every game, some rules intended solely to reduce the frequency (and associated expense) of replacing balls during a game remain in force - the Pine Tar Incident in the 1980s was one famous incident triggered by a capricious enforcement of an obscure one.

[citation needed] Once discarded by the umpire, game-used baseballs not hit into the stands are collected by batboys.

[citation needed] Throughout the 20th Century, Major League Baseball used two technically identical but differently marked balls.

MLB has long recognized any ball that comes into the possession of a spectator by any lawful means after entering the stands as immediately becoming the property of that spectator, although balls hit out of the park for momentous occasions (record setting, or for personal reasons) are often requested to be returned by the fan who catches or otherwise retrieves it, or donated freely by the fan.

[citation needed] Without proper preparation, an official professional-grade baseball is very dangerous to throw because it is so slick and hard.