Baseball Rubbing Mud is used on baseballs like the one seen here.

Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud is mud used to allow pitchers better control and a firmer grip over the balls used in the sport of baseball.^[1]

[edit] History

Before Baseball Rubbing Mud was used, baseballs were rubbed in a mixture of water and infield dirt, but this method usually discolored the ball's leather surface.^[1] Other alternatives at the time were tobacco juice, shoe polish, and dirt from under stadium bleachers. They were able to successfully take off the sheen from baseballs, but at the same time, they also damaged and scratched a ball's leather.^[2] While Lena Blackburne was a third-base coach for the Philadelphia Athletics baseball team, an umpire complained to him about the method used at the time, prompting Blackburne to set out in search of better mud to use to rub against baseballs in 1938. Later that decade, Blackburne discovered the rubbing mud's location (said to be 'near' Palmyra, New Jersey) and founded the company that he used to sell it.^[3] According to the company, the entire American League used the mud soon after its discovery, and by the 1950s, it was in use by every major league team, along with some minor league and college teams.^[1]

[edit] Usage

The mud originates from a secret location on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River; only the company's current owner, Jim Blintiff (a descendant of Blackburne), is privy to the information.^[1] The mud is cleaned and screened, and a secret ingredient is added to it before sale.^[1] Each year, Blintiff visits the mud's secret location, and returns with 1,000 pounds of it to store over the winter, until he sells it the following baseball season.^[3] Before all major- and minor-league baseball games, an umpire rubs six or more dozen balls with the Baseball Rubbing Mud to give them a rougher surface, making them easier for pitchers to grip (MLB Rule 3.01c). The rubbing mud's unique feature is that it is "very fine, like thick chocolate pudding",^[1] and it has been considered the "perfect baseball-rubbing mud".^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website