The Number of Baseballs Used in an MLB Game is Insanity.

The Number of Baseballs Used in an MLB Game is Insanity.

Baseball looks slow on television. And, well, that’s because it isn’t.

It’s one of the most controlled environments in professional sports, and nowhere is that more evident than in the baseball itself.

In the early days of baseball, balls were reused until they were practically unrecognizable.

Pitchers scuffed them. Darkened them. Spit on them. Rubbed them with dirt or tobacco juice. It was part of the game.

That ended in 1920.

After a fatal pitch struck Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman, Major League Baseball outlawed doctored balls and began replacing baseballs constantly to improve visibility and safety.

That decision changed everything.

Today, an average MLB game uses (drum roll please) … 96 to 120 baseballs per game with an average of 300 pitches per game (2.5 pitches per ball).

Some postseason games exceed 140.

Any ball that touches dirt, gets scuffed, or ends up in the stands is immediately removed from play.

Pitchers demand a uniform grip. Umpires enforce consistency. Even slight imperfections can affect movement at 95 miles an hour.

Every MLB baseball is hand-stitched with 108 stitches by Rawlings. They’re inspected, rubbed with mud from a specific New Jersey river, and monitored closely throughout the game.

Over the course of a season, MLB uses nearly 900,000 baseballs.

Many end up as souvenirs. Some are authenticated and sold. Others are archived. None are reused in play.

Baseball doesn’t move fast.
But it demands precision like few sports ever have.