This being the start of baseball season, I have a baseball story on the dirt on baseballs. The Sox are now 3-3 after beating those dastardly Twins twice in a row. Sure hate to see Joe Crede in that uniform.
They are now leaving Comiskey (I don't call it that other name) and hitting the road for ten games.
THE DIRT ON BASEBALL
Before every game, a time-honored tradition takes place deep in the bowels of every major league stadium. Batboys rub brown gunk on dozens of new baseballs and then toweling them off once the gunk dries. Only then can they be used in a game.
Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud has been used for over 70 years after a wild pitch killed a batter in 1920 and it was decided something needed to be put on baseballs to allow the pitcher to get a better grip.
Shoe polish and tobacco juice was used, but didn't work that well.
However, a feldspar-rich clay was found in a New Jersey swamp by player and coach R. A. "Lena" Blackburne. Used since 1938, it made the baseball Hall of Fame in 1968.
The company has six harvests a year from two 'secret holes." They filter out debris and add a special ingredient for extra grip. The three-pound vats are then aged for six weeks and then two are sent to each team, enough for a season.
From National Geographic
So, Perhaps That is Where the Term "Mudville" Comes From. --Da Coot
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