How Is A Baseball Made?

A baseball is a ball used in the sport of baseball. The baseball is made of a rubber or cork center, wrapped in yarn, and covered with leather.

The Materials

Baseballs are made of materials like rubber, cork, yarn, and leather. The cover of the baseball is made of two strips of white leather sewn together. The cork is used for the center of the baseball and is surrounded by rubber. The yarn is wound around the rubber and cork to keep everything in place.

The Core

The baseball’s heart is a small, heavy piece of rubber called the “pill.” It is slightly less than an inch in diameter, and weighs between 2 and 3 ounces. The pill is surrounded by yarn and winding. The function of the yarn is to help keep the ball’s shape and to protect the pill.

The Cover

The cover, or the leather part of the baseball, is made of two strips of white leather. They are put together by hand and sewn with red thread. The stitches on a regulation baseball must be between 108 and 112 per square inch. After the ball is covered, it is stamped with the official league logo and the manufacturer’s logo.

The Winding

The baseball stitching is made of waxed thread; a strong, but flexible thread. The amount of stitches on a baseball vary, but it is usually between 108 and 148 stitches. Once all the yarn is wound around the cork, the remaining end of the yarn is knotted several times to secure it. A leather cover is then placed over the ball and sewn shut. The laces are also made of waxed thread and are looped around the ball to create a figure eight pattern.

The Manufacturing Process

Rawlings is the official baseball supplier for Major League Baseball, so let’s take a look at how they make their baseballs. Rawlings has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Costa Rica that can produce up to 5,000 baseballs a day. The baseballs are made from cowhide leather, and the process starts with the cowhide being cut into small pieces.

Step One: The Core

The heart of the baseball is the cork center. It must be exactly 1 3/4 inches in diameter and perfectly round. A small hole is drilled through the center of the cork for the rubber core to be inserted. The cork is placed into a mold that gives it its spherical shape.

Step Two: The Core
The rubber core, similar to a tennis ball, is placed into the middle of the cork. The rubber must be 1 1/2 inches in diameter and also perfectly round.

Step Three: The Wool Winding
Several layers of wool yarn are then wrapped around the rubber core. This process can take up to an hour as each layer of wool is hand-wound around the ball by a skilled worker.

Step Four: The Leather Covering
After the wool winding, a calfskin leather cover is hand-stitched over the ball. Once again, great care is taken to ensure that no two panels of leather are alike so that each ball has a unique look and feel.

Step Two: The Cover

After the core has been made, a machine will cut a 1/16th inch sheet of cowhide into a circular shape. This circular piece will then be placed on top of the rubber core and nylon windings. Once the cover has been put in place, six panels are added to create the traditional baseball shape. These panels are stitched together using 108 stitches of red thread, which is the signature stitch count for a Major League baseball.

Step Three: The Winding

After the core has been formed, it is time to add the yarn that will serve as the cover of the baseball. A yarn-winding machine is used to cover the cork-rubber center with finer yarn. The number of twists per inch in the yarn affects the hardness of the ball, and after a lot of experimentation, major league baseball has settled on a winding that gives just under three twists per inch. Once wound, an expert stitch-seamer covers the joints between the hemispheres with Red Dixie thread, using 108 stitches to an inch.

Step Four: The stitching

The next step in the manufacturing process is to stitch the baseball. The cover of a baseball is made out of two panels that are stitched together. The center of the ball is made up of a cork core that is wrapped in yarn. The yarn is then wound around the cork to a thickness of about an inch. Once the desired thickness is achieved, the yarn is tied off and the two panels of the cover are stitched together.

Quality Control

Every Rawlings baseball starts with top-quality leather. The cowhide is cut into 12-inch by 12-inch squares. From there, the leather squares are hand-formed into balls. Once the balls are sewn together, they are hand-rubbed with mud from a special recipes to give them their professional-grade shine.

The MLB Approved Baseball

In order to be used in an MLB game, a baseball must meet several standards set by the Major League Baseball organization. First, the baseball must have a cork center and rubber surrounding it. There are strict guidelines as to how much cork can be used in each ball – too much, and the ball will fly too far; too little, and it will not fly far enough.

The rubber must also meet specific guidelines – it must be black and have a thickness of 0.015 inches. After the rubber is placed around the cork, yarn is wound around the rubber until it reaches the desired size. The last step is to cover the yarn with cowhide leather, which is stitched together by hand.

Once all of these steps are completed, the baseball is sent to Major League Baseball for approval. If it meets all of their standards, it will be stamped with an official MLB logo and can then be used in an MLB game.

The Testing Process

Before a single baseball is used in a professional game, it must go through a rigorous testing process to ensure that it meets all of the required specifications. First, the raw materials are inspected to make sure they meet the correct standards. The rubber core and the cork must meet specific density and hardness requirements, while the leather cover must be of a certain thickness and stiffness.

Once the raw materials have been approved, they are sent to the manufacturing plant where the baseballs are made. Here, a team of skilled workers will hand-stitch each ball according to precise guidelines. Once the ball has been stitched, it is again inspected for quality before being sent to the final testing stage.

The last step in the process is known as the bounce test. In this test, each baseball is dropped from a height of seven feet onto a concrete surface. If the ball bounces up to at least three feet high, it is determined to be of sufficient quality to be used in a game. If it does not meet this criteria, it is rejected and sent back to be reworked.