Last Updated on July 3, 2021 by
A maximum of 10 dozens and a minimum of 7 dozens! 7 to 10 dozen baseballs are used in one game of baseball. Do you know what this means? Let me tell you, MLB(Major League Baseball) teams are 30 in number, therefore, 1550 balls are used in one day, between all 30 teams. A baseball in one game is said to last for two pitches at most. Also, in the MLB, once a baseball is removed from the game, it doesn’t come back. That ball is handed down to minor leagues. An MLB baseball costs 6 dollars. By my calculations, the MLB uses about 247,860 balls in one season. This means that in a season, MLB spends roughly 1.5 million dollars per season.
A Table Showing The Kinds Of Baseballs Used In Baseball
| Kind Of Baseball | Description |
| Safety balls | The safety balls have a convincing baseball look. They are cushioned, so they are soft, it is best for teaching young players young baseball players without being scared of the impact of the ball. With fear out of the way, young players can focus more on building their skills. |
| Reduced injury factory (RIF) balls | The RIF baseballs perform better than safety balls. Their core is mixed with poly which makes them softer than the normal youth hardball. |
| Youth tournament baseballs | The youth tournament baseballs are cushioned in the cork center, they are not wound as right as adult balls but they are not soft. |
| High school and college baseballs | These balls are usually made of a cork core, wool windings, and leather. |
| Professional grade baseball | These are the balls used by the MLB teams, they have the best quality compared to every other league. |
| Practice baseballs | Just like the name entails, these are used for practice in junior leagues, they are made with low-quality materials. |
Materials Used In Making Baseball Covers
There are usually two different kinds of materials used in making baseball covers. We are putting this in the article so maybe knowing what the baseball is made of will help you know why they don’t last for more than two pitches.
1. Genuine Leather
The genuine leather cover lasts long and is preferred by most youth baseball teams. Other reasons are the fact that it possesses a better grip and has high durability. Genuine leather is used to mark the stamps on baseballs. Either that or full-grain leather. The downside is that genuine leather comes in different qualities and varying thicknesses. The only difference between the high quality and low quality is the price.
2. Synthetic Leather
Synthetic leather covers are made from vinyl materials. Sometimes people call it Vyntan, synthetic leather, or soft leather. This kind of leather is used because it doesn’t carry dirt and doesn’t soak up water like normal leather.
In most games played in the MLB, genuine leather-covered baseballs are used. The synthetic leather is reserved for practice and most times, they are used after a rainfall to avoid using a soaked-up ball to play.
Different Kinds Of Baseball
There are majorly six kinds of baseballs that most leagues make use of;
1. Safety Balls
These balls are made for younger baseball players, when we say young we mean age 3 to 5, pretty young right? Yes, children at that age learn to play baseball too. Back to business. Safety balls are soft, you will know they are soft just by looking at them, they are also lighter than other baseballs.
2. Reduced Injury Factory Balls
These balls are made with better materials than safety balls, they are also available for players of different age grades. Although, they are mostly used for practice.
3. Youth Tournament Baseballs
These balls are used by more experienced players from the age of 8-14 and sometimes in little league tournaments. It’s surprising that we are calling children of 8 years old experienced right? Well like we said before they mostly start from the age of 3 so by the time they are 8, they are of course experienced. These balls are manufactured for youth-sized aluminum bats. The insides are made with leather and wool windings.
4. High School And College Baseballs
These balls are very similar to the ones used in professional baseball games, the only difference is the density and also these ones are built for aluminum bats.
5. Professional-Grade Baseballs
The major league baseball teams make use of these kinds of balls, they get the highest quality balls. They need the best balls because they play at the highest level. The minor league follows them behind by using lower-quality balls.
6. Practice Baseballs
Practice balls are mostly synthetic covered balls, every level baseball teams use low-quality balls to practice because they are inexpensive. Keep in mind that when using practice balls, they wear out easily and lose shape.
When An MLB Game Is About To Start, How Many Balls Are Prepared?
12 dozen baseballs! Each MLB team is given 12 pounds for spring training and regular-season games. How do we know this? Well, Dan Wallin equipment manager of the nats said in an interview that it takes him or any clubhouse assistant about 45 minutes to rub the mud on the prepared balls for the game.
What Is Done To The Used Baseballs?
Major league baseball does different things to used balls, for example, they put them in the barrel for batting practices, some of them are sold to collectors as game-used balls. Sometimes they are taken out of play and saved for players for a situation when a milestone is reached.
Why Are Baseballs Changed When They Hit The Dirt?
Umpires say that their main reason for changing dirty baseballs is because of the advantage pitchers get from it. When a pitcher pitch a dirty baseball, he can inflict more force on the baseball than usual.
Final Thoughts
The bottom line here is that, there are reasons why so many baseballs are being used in just one game, umpires know why it is done this way. We’ve reached the end of this informative article. We hope that this article helped you find resources in your quest to know how many balls are used in a baseball game. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments. Thanks!
