I suppose we could look at it in the same way we look at bat rolling. The end result of rolling is roughly the same as repeated normal use of the bat, but we got there artificially.

Same thing with the ball - she's getting the ball to her desired state by artificial and direct means.

Thank you for illustrating the the ignorant argument I mentioned above.

Is dirt foreign to the field? Of course not.

Is it foreign to the ball? When you open a new ball from the package, is it covered with dirt? Is dirt part of the ball's manufactured characteristics or specifications?

Maybe it would be less confusing if instead of "foreign" we used the term "non-intristic" (then again, maybe not...).

It was sarcasm.

Didn't say it wasn't. Just said that it served to illustrate the argument I've heard many times when discussing dirt as a foreign substance.

Besides, how could the dirt be a foreign substance when we're playing the game right here on good old American soil? ;)

:rolleyes: Imported dirt?

Well, that being said. Every speck of infield dirt is delivered by truck.

I had two games this year played on 99% turf. Only dirt was in front of the pitcher's plate. Hard to rub the ball up with rubber pellets.