Baseball rubbing mud
Baseball rubbing mud is a form of mud that can a. used in major league baseball to rub in all baseballs . The increased frictional resistance makes it easier for the pitcher to throw.
Brand new baseballs are so slippery that they can easily slip out of your hand when pitched. This is so dangerous that there is an official rule in Major League Baseball that all baseballs must be "expertly rubbed in to reduce slippage" before use. At the beginning of professional baseball, a. Earth, saliva or tobacco juice used, with which the pitchers were often only partially satisfied. If handled too lightly, the ball would remain slippery, and if handled too heavily, there was a risk of the ball becoming unbalanced or the seams becoming so dark that the opposing batter could see the spin .
In the 1930s, baseball coach Russell (nickname: "Lena") Blackburne of the Philadelphia Athletics discovered a hole in the ground on the Delaware River near New Jersey , in which he found the "perfect rubbing mud". He supplied his team with it, which was enthusiastic about the results. Blackburne started its own company and soon began supplying it to the entire American League , but refused to sell it to the National League until the 1950s . Today, baseball rubbing mud is used by almost every team in Major League Baseball. Baseballs that have been rubbed with it are also used in the World Baseball Classic .
The exact location of the hole in the ground is a company secret to this day. The consistency of baseball rubbing mud is described as "thick chocolate pudding" and looks like "very fine sandpaper that grinds off the slip without damaging the ball". Baseball rubbing mud is typically sold in 32- ounce tubs , which cost about $ 75 each. According to sales, this is enough for an entire season. While baseball rubbing mud is coveted, it's not particularly lucrative: According to Jim Bintliff, who ran Lena Blackburne's company in 2009, sales "only bring in about $ 20,000 a year".
Web links
- Lena Blackburnes Baseball Rubbing Mud
- Major League Baseball Report on Baseball Rubbing Mud
- CNN report on baseball rubbing mud
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- ↑ a b Baseball Has a Dirty Little Secret: Lena Blackburne Rubbing Mud , NBC News
- ↑ a b The dirt on baseball , Christian Science Monitor
- ↑ The Mudville Line , MLB.com
- ^ All-American mud needed to take shine off baseballs , Florida Times