Beginning of each year, MLB stocks almost 2 million baseballs for the regular season and playoff games!
And can you believe that in today’s automation age, these hard balls are still made by hand? Matter of fact, Rawlings (the official MLB baseball maker) has abut 300 craftsmen/women who make around 2.5 million baseballs year each (some are sent to lower leagues).
Each baseball has the iconic red stitching (108 stitches to be precise using an 88-inch red thread) which holds the leather cover together. The materials inside varies depending on the league level but a typical baseball contains wool, yard rubber casing and a cork center
In a typical MLB game, approximately 10 cases or 120 balls are used, not including 200 or so balls used during warm-up/batting practice.
Unlike most college and lower games, all major and minor game balls are “doctored” with a light coat of special mud from the NJ’s Delaware River (supplied by Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud)!