How Baseballs Are Made

This video shows how major league baseballs are manufactured.

Big league baseball teams never use brand new baseballs directly from the box in a game. They're too shiny to play with. Prior to a game umpires, or individuals supervised by the umpires, rub the balls with a rubbing mud, which is smooth and creamy, but with a fine grit. The composition of the mud is a secret, but the base ingredient is known to be mud from a specific site in a tributary of the Delaware River.

A major league baseball costs about $17.25 and has an average life of 7 pitches.