Every one of us might have once asked how much does a baseball weigh. A baseball game is incomplete with the ball; moreover, everyone talks about other aspects of the game, even the material and the process of manufacturing the ball, but you don’t need to worry as this article provide an answer to how much does a baseball weigh.
So, the total weight of a baseball is between 5 to 5 ¼ pounds. Although we will come later to how the ball is manufactured, for now, remember that it’s still manufactured via the process where most of the work is done with hands, and there are valid reasons behind it which I will discuss later.
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HOW MUCH DOES A BASEBALL WEIGH AND ITS HISTORY
So, how much does a baseball weigh? While the ball weighs between 5 to 5¼ pounds, there is a rich history related to baseball’s weigh. Initially, there was no specified weigh for the ball used in this game, called a dead ball. Each player would make a ball that was usually soft and dead. Furthermore, since the ball weights differed from player to player, each player would pitch the ball differently, and there was no consistency in pitching.
Since there was no consistency in the balls in baseball, batters would always face difficulty while hitting the ball, and the reason was different balls pitched by different players. The dead ball era lasted until 1876, when a pitcher- A.G. Spalding, finally changed the norm. Spalding came up with a ball made of rubber core that was accepted by the National League and made it a standard for a baseball game.
The more interesting fact related to baseball ball is that until the early 1900s, players would use one ball for the whole match and would change it until it was torn apart. This led batters to face difficulties while playing with the ball since it would get much dirty with time in the game. But now, several balls are changed during one baseball game.
After the end of the dead ball, the era of the live ball starts, and A G Spalding is considered the founder of a live ball. In 1920, he introduced Australian wool in making the ball, which brought some positive changes to the game.
With the changes introduced by Spalding, batters were able to quickly hit the ball and score more home runs, whereas the pitchers were now worried, and it became a headache for them, unlike before.
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FIRST BASEBALL STANDARDS WERE INTRODUCED IN 1934
Apart from learning how much does a baseball weigh, let’s get to know about the history of the ball used in the baseball game. With some changes and new standards, people started wondering how much does a baseball weigh and what it is made of. Conferring to the changes cushion core was replaced with a new core, and two layers surrounding the ball were introduced where the first rubber layer was black and the second was red.
After dealing with the core, next comes 71 yards longer Australian wool with a blue-grey color with dimensions of 7¾ inches. The next color of wool used in the ball was white, and it was 41 yards lengthy. That would increase the ball’s circumference to 8.2 inches and 3.8 ounces. And finally, applying tanned horsehide to the ball became the norm.
THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR ON BASEBALL
As wars always bring destruction to everything, the same was the case with baseball during world war two, where most players had opted to join the army. Similarly, rubber is extensively used in weapons and other war-related equipment, and there was a rubber shortage; that’s why no standardized balls were available for a baseball game.
In response to the rubber shortage, the management decided to use other materials in the ball manufacturing, which they did, which negatively impacted the game flow as batters again started facing difficulties with hitting the ball.
Read this article: HOW MANY STITCHES ON A BASEBALL
HOW MUCH DOES A BASEBALL WEIGH AFTER WORLD WAR 2 TILL NOW?
Though the war had ended and baseball materials also changed, those minor changes included using a mixture of cork and rubber in the core, whereas, instead of using horsehide, they started using cowhide. So how much does a baseball weigh currently? Well, the current ball weigh between 5-5 1/4 ounces.
Interesting fact: double stitches on the ball account for 108. That means the actual number of stitches is 216.
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