Pieces to Pitches: How a Major League Baseball is Made

PIECES TO PITCHES AN OFFICIAL MAJOR LEAGUE BALL is conceived through a delicate and precise process of joining raw materials together to create a perfectly formed baseball. After rigorous examinations for quality control, the ball is then sealed with the kiss of the manufacturer's thrown, and caught on the professional field of baseball. Though its creation is intricate and long, its lifespan on the field is gloriously short; as a major league ball is only good for 5 to 7 pitches. Then it's cast aside to live out the rest of its life either on the practice field or in the hands of a baseball fan lucky enough to catch it. how a major league baseball is made trademark stamp and the league designation. Balls are distributed by the thousands to be hit, 00. The first layer of 4-py gray wool is mechanically wound around the pil. The machine winds the wool so ight that it takes the appearance of thread. The second layer is cof 3-ply white wool. The hied. 3-py gray wool and the fourth is a polylcotto thread to give it a smoother surtace. 01. the "pl" 4-ply wool yarn The center of a baseball is called the pi, which is a cork/nutber composite, Itisecased byo layers of molded nubber, an inner bl layer and an outer red layer. Hundreds of pils are losded ito a drum were they are evenly coated win a thin layer of latex adhesive. The adheshvenever fully dries and leaves the pil with a ky surdace. The stckyness belps to secure thest winding of wool to the pl. 3-ply white wool yarn 3ply white wool yarn cowhide the "centre" 02. 88" of waxed red thread 03. At this stage of the process the ball is a the cente the centres are put lin drums and coated wathin layer e adhesive. The achesive is absorbed by the wool he bers together. Centres are left to air dry for 48 hours, Two pieces of cowhide are applied to the centre, then clamped in place. A cross-stitch method is used to hand sew the pieces together. wax is rubbed on the thread to help provent tarigles. In a final step, the stiches are pulled into a vshape for a consistent look renains sticky and fel A hydrauic press punches out figure eght shapes out of contide, along with thread holes around the perimeter. Each piece of contide is wrapped in a damp doh to help with plability while hand sewing the bal Rawlings Bals are put through a press to smooth down seams. To make it official, a three-headed stamp gves e the manufacturer's trademark, league designation, and the commisloner's signature. www.cbc.ca/ports/kry2000/06/25 tal000523.html leanbitz.net/2012/04/nanufacturing-prooess of-baseballs