Ever noticed while watching an MLB game that any pitch that hits the ground, the catcher will automatically hold the ball for the umpire, who takes the scratched ball while giving the catcher a new baseball, then throws the ball scraped into the home team’s dugout. . Have you ever wondered why?
Pitchers at the Major League level are so talented that any scratch on the baseball, no matter how small, due to wind resistance could create more movement in the baseball when it is pitched, giving it the pitcher an unfair advantage over the batter.
This seems like a reasonable explanation for throwing hundreds of baseballs, per team, out of the game over the course of a season. Since scratch balls are always thrown toward the home team’s dugout, it’s safe to assume that the balls are used by the team in batting practice, as well as drills on and off the field.
From time to time, especially after a player hits a home run or other big hit, television cameras will pan around inside the dugout showing the players’ celebratory activities. During these dugout scans, it is not unusual to see a police officer or security guard sitting inside the dugout with the players.
Unfortunately, with the state of violence in the world today, it makes perfect sense to have an official stationed inside the dugout to protect players from a rogue fan who may try to enter the dugout from the field.
Until yesterday I firmly believed that these self-inferred explanations for the two events were entirely true. I want to say that my explanations are rational and make perfect logical sense, but embarrassingly for me, only partially correct. In fact, if I was pressed for accuracy, I’d have to admit, very slightly correct.
So what is the precise explanation for these two issues? Ironically, both are part of the answer. This is wild, let me explain.
He was right about the scraped part. Baseballs are considered unusable after hitting the ground, though that raises the question why aren’t all baseballs discarded after being put into play?
However, the baseballs are thrown into the home team’s dugout, but not to be used for batting practice or infield/outfield drills, but are turned over to the official in the dugout for official recording, tagging, and identification. ball identification. Ironically, the official is in the dugout for safety reasons, but he is supposed to protect the scratched baseballs, not the players.
The official files a report on each baseball that includes, but is not limited to, the date of the game, the pitch count when the ball was discarded, and who was the batter at the time.
The MLB then places these baseballs under tight security and transfers them to New York City, where they are auctioned off. This identical scenario occurs at every major league ballpark, at every game, all season long.
I was told that there is a high demand for these baseballs from fans who attended the game for some important reason, like they proposed at the game, the wife was announced to be pregnant, and whatever, whatever.
It is not every day that I announce to the world that I am wrong, actually terribly wrong, about something, but this intrigued me so much that I had to let everyone know.
The only thing worse now is that everyone but me knew this.