The Curious Count

On Thursday night, I went to a Pawtucket baseball game with my friend Jill. As we watched foul ball after foul ball get knocked into the stands, we pondered a bit.

How many baseballs do teams go through in one game?

Apparently, we aren't the only ones who have ever asked that question.

Last night, on my first night at my internship, the curiosity question on WBZ-TV's website for the sports team was almost identical.

When Dan Roche did his 5:00 news sportscast, he answered that question--with a little help from guys down at the Red Sox.

Apparently, teams have 10 dozen balls ready before games. 120 balls! I can't imagine that they go through that many in EVERY game, but if so that is an incredible amount of rubber.

And a sidebar: All those balls have to be rubbed in mud before they get used. Why? Roche said that it was because back in the day balls used to have a shiny material over them, and when a player got hit, he was killed. 

The mud they use? Special mud, it seems, from New Jersey---I guess that's why it's called the dirty.