We take the modern day baseball for granted and
never consider the fact that today's baseball is the end result of a long and
fascinating metamorphose which saw the ball change dramatically.
In the early
history of the game the baseball played a Major part in
baseball strategy. The makers of the hand-made baseball were easily identified
as producing a Live, Medium or Dead Ball which allowed teams to use different
baseballs in different situations.
Baseballs
radically changed in 1857 and their size and weight continued to change well
into the 1860's until the Leagues finally adopted a standardize baseball in
1872, which remains the standards of today's modern baseball.
Early History of
Baseball:
Early baseballs
were made by hand winding yarn or string around a core, which could be any solid
object, then using some sort of stuffing in the ball, which was then enclosed
in a leather sheathing.
The leather was
usually brown in color and was stitched in what was known as a "lemon
peel" or "rose pedal" stitch. The leather was enfolded around
the ball and stitched composed forming an X configuration on the outside of the
ball.
Because these
balls were very light and soft, prior to 1845, a runner could be professed out
if the fielder threw the ball and hit the runner, which was called Soaking a
runner. I have no idea where the term created or why.
The Baseball
Producers
Since there was
no standardized, official manufacturer of baseballs, players and local
merchants would make them as they saw fit. Early baseballs were quite small and
light associated to today's baseball, but were constructed of leather, although
the colors varied from shades of medium brown to dark brown.
The first
recording of a standardized baseball was in 1854 when the three New York Teams,
The Knickerbockers, Gothams and Eagle Baseball Club all obvious a baseball
would be between 5 ½ to 6 ounces in weight with a diameter between 2 ¾ to 3 ½
inches and be sewn in a lemon peel stitch pattern.
This sized
baseball was probably adapted from the baseball they were currently using and
were familiar with and was not the standard for the baseball teams in other
parts of the country.
In 1857, the
first baseball convention was held at Smith's Hotel in New York city, where
numerous rules and standards were adopted by the 15 New York Baseball Clubs,
the size of a standard baseball being one of them.
It was agreed
upon the baseball would have a circumference of between 10 and 10 ¼ inches and
weigh between 6 and 6 ¼ ounces.
In 1858 H.P.
Harwood & Sons Company of Natick, MA, became the very first factory opened
with the sole purpose of producing baseballs. They were also the inventors of
the figure - eight stitching, the same stitching used in today's modern
baseball.
In 1858,
baseball's second convention, set forth more exact rules concerning the composition
and fabrication of the baseball. It was generally believed the great strides in
manufacturing techniques prompted these changes so soon after the original
rules were adopted.
The new stipulations
said the baseball would have a core which was to be India-rubber, which comes
from the latex of many tropical plants and is tremendously elastic.
The rules also
stated the baseball for the game was to be provided by the challenging team,
visitors in today's lingo, and would be presented to "Winning" club as
a trophy. This had been an established custom for years, but was now an
official rule.
There are
numerous stories related with the creation of the baseball. For instance, it is
rumored Ellis Drake was the inventor of the two - piece leather, figure-eight
stitched baseball. It is said he drew a rough draft of the design in 1840 while
in grade school and built a prototype from his father's scrap leather.
As a fan of LSU baseball team I request you all to follow the team.
