licking fingers

[Tru_in_Blu]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

Then why aren't games stopped immediately when it begins to rain?

The same reason a drop of oil somewhere is better than a quart. Pitching a wet ball with wet fingers results in a loss of control. At that point, pitchers begin to lose their grip. And the ball gets heavier, even with someone wiping it off when it comes in from the outfield after shooting up a trail of water on the way to an outfielder.

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

It's a finishing coat sprayed to help the balls look pretty. I wouldn't doubt there is an additional value to protect the ball for during transportation, storage and temperature issues

Store 'em in the humidor?

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

Feel for the ball I can buy especially since there is quite a variance in the stitching on today's ball. However, simply warming up with a particular ball does nothing to wear the surface unless you throw the ball into the ground. This is one place where, God forgive me for saying this, baseball has an edge. Like baseball umpires, we should take every new ball and rub it down prior to putting it into the game. It isn't difficult and barely takes 10 seconds. If you need to wet your palms or pick up an handful of dirt, do it.

I don't recall many warm-up sessions when I didn't manage to throw at least a couple of pitches in the dirt or off the backstop. But even throwing 40 or 50 pitches in a warm up will knock some of the sheen off the ball.

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

It is not an advantage to be able to grip the ball. If it were, resin and Gorilla Gold (drying agents in name only), would not be allowed.

Well, we definitely need to take different sides on this argument. Try throwing a ball, or any object, without fingers. If you can't grip something, how can you hold it, much less throw it. [Unless you're Larry Bird shooting foul shots w/ a bandaged hand against a sportswriter (Bob Ryan?)] There was the Gipper, and now the Gripless.

Ted

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Tru_in_Blu

The same reason a drop of oil somewhere is better than a quart. Pitching a wet ball with wet fingers results in a loss of control. At that point, pitchers begin to lose their grip. And the ball gets heavier, even with someone wiping it off when it comes in from the outfield after shooting up a trail of water on the way to an outfielder.

This is a rule which was established way back when balls were still made of relatively raw horse & cow hide. The processing of the leather used had improved dramatically over the years and while still porous, today's balls are much more resiliant than those of the past.

Store 'em in the humidor?

It wouldn't hurt. During the processing, the hide is processed with whatever dyes/pretreatment (liquid form) being used for that piece, removed from the vat/drum, partially dried, staked (stretched) and dried in an oven-like chamber.

One of the first things my father would do when we came home with a new pair of shoes was to take them to the kitchen and put them under a running faucet. With all the treatments and applications applied to leather today, other than being left in a puddle of water, moisture should have minimal affect, including absorption, on the balls today. IOW, trying to weight a portion of the ball through moisture, you may need a garden hose.

I don't recall many warm-up sessions when I didn't manage to throw at least a couple of pitches in the dirt or off the backstop. But even throwing 40 or 50 pitches in a warm up will knock some of the sheen off the ball.

That still doesn't insure the coating will be removed equally. It is easier and more consistant to just rub the ball down.