The History of the Baseball

Originally baseballs were made by cobblers using the rubber remains of old shoes. The baseballs were a rubber core wrapped with yarn and covered with leather. In those days, 1840s, each baseball was unique and different. One of the more popular designs was a core wrapped with a single piece of leather with stitches keeping it together. These baseballs were smaller and lighter than others. This was a great baseball because back then if you beaned a baserunner with a ball it would count as an out. It was bad however because these could be hit so far and the scoreboard soon looked like the score at a basketball game. In 1850 New York standardized the weight and size of the baseball which helped with the score. In 1870 the MLB created the official ball which is very close to what we use today. A. G. Spalding won many games using his own baseballs. After he retired, he persuaded the MLB to adopt his ball and soon the Spalding became the official ball. Spalding became a business. The cork-filled ball came into play in 1910 and the cushion cork came into play in 1925. Rawlings eventually became the baseball maker of the MLB.