Rubbing mud on TV

[coxfan]

On May 17, I caught a brief feature on "Modern Marvels" on the History Channel. It was about the mud used by pro baseball teams for game-used balls. They showed the fellow collecting the mud from the secret location. He said he thought the proportion of the mineral feldspar was what made the mud special. He also said he only took it from the top, as deeper mud was of a different makeup. He ended with: "It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it."

Not much new there, but it was interesting to see it on TV. It's odd that the NCAA is happy with any "moistened river silt", without needing any special spot.

[Vintagedeputy]

One family has been selling the mud to MLB for years, IIRC...comes from a swamp in South Jersey.

[coxfan]

Traces of the mud on balls are useful for collectors, to help judge if a BP ball has seen game-use. I suspect that the family who sells the mud has been smart to keep the price low; else, MLB might seek other special spots.

[OaklandAsFan]

the family has been doing it for generations Lena Blackburn who played way back at the turn of the century started the business. My mother did lots of research on him, I wish I had spent more time talking to her about all this type of stuff before she passed....

[bigklu18]

So, am I the only one that has a tub of this mud in their collection ?

http://baseballrubbingmud.com/images/open1lb.jpg

[OaklandAsFan]

I don't have a tub full of the actual mud I just have an empty tub that was giving to my mother by the umps clubby in Oakland a few years back.

[camarokids]

I believe the show's title is Dirt. This show has been on History Channel quite a few times before. Does have a lot of cool facts.....

[mlupo]

Traces of the mud on balls are useful for collectors, to help judge if a BP ball has seen game-use.

As far as I know most of the BP balls are just balls that were used in prior games...at least that's what I've heard.

[OaklandAsFan]

not always the case especially in the MLB. Teams get balls that are stamped practice or they use fresh baseball that haven't been rubbed down. I think old game used balls being used during bp happens more in the minors.

[coxfan]

Plus, some MLB teams send their slightly-used BP balls to their minor-league teams for further use. I confirmed this with the General Manager of the Charlotte Knights (AAA team of the White Sox.) Then, after further use, they may be mixed in with AAA "game-used" balls sold at the team store; so an attentive collector can find them amongst the minor-league balls.

Usually by then, they're too beat up to tell if they'd been initially rubbed-up. But I did find one MLB ball marked "practice" and hand-lettered "White Sox" being sold by the Charlotte store as a "game-used" Charlotte ball. A nice find for $6!

[Skizzick]

They get that stuff out of a river in South Jersey.

[jtnatalierica]

Hello, been a member for 6 years. I threw batting practice with Toronto (1984) and Detroit (1985-1991). They use mostly (90%) regular, b.p. balls, not gamers. Those gamers not used are saved for the next game. Always newer b.p. balls, somewhere around 90-120 b.p. balls per game. Rubbed up game balls number around 8-9 doz. every game. Used b.p. balls only used for about 2 days, then scuffed, grass stained, or marred are sent to the minors. Never at a loss for newer balls. Got a few in my day saved for myself.

[coxfan]

These days, the ballboys are told in advance how many g-u balls to dignate for authentication (from 6 up to everything available, depending on the game's importance.) The rest are mostly thrown to fans. So, there'll be few left for practice, even if they're too damaged for further game use.

In the Minors, balls are more likely to be recycled for practice, since few are thrown to fans. (At the lower levels, even fewer.) I once saw a visiting Class A minor-league team place a spare pitcher where he could recover fouls in competition with fans; obviously to be used by his team for practice.

College teams recycle game-used balls for practice a lot. They also keep gamers in play longer despite stains and dirt. They're starting to give up on retrieving fouls from fans. But all college baseball teams (even the big-time ones) lose money, and are covered financially by their football teams. So their ball-hoarding is understandable.