What do they do with the worn baseballs?

Ever while watching an MLB game, have you noticed that any pitch that hits the ground, the catcher will automatically hold the ball for the umpire, who takes the scraped ball while giving the catcher a new baseball, then throws the ball scraped into the home team’s dugout. . Did you ever wonder why?

Pitchers at the Major League level are so talented that any scratch from the baseball, no matter how small, due to wind resistance, could create more movement on the baseball when pitched, giving it the pitcher an unfair advantage over the batter.

This seems like a reasonable explanation for throwing hundreds of baseballs, per team, out of the game over the course of a season. Since scraped balls are always thrown towards the home team’s bench, it is safe to assume that the balls are used by the team in batting practice, as well as drills on and off the field.

From time to time, especially after a player hits a home run or other significant hit, television cameras will scroll inside the bench showing the players’ celebratory activities. During these bench scans, it is not unusual to see a police officer or security guard sitting inside the bench with the players.

Unfortunately, with the state of violence in the world today, it makes perfect sense to have an official stationed inside the bench to protect players from a rogue fan who may attempt to enter the bench from the field.

Until yesterday I firmly believed that these self-derived explanations for the two events were totally true. I mean my explanations are rational and make perfect logical sense, but embarrassingly to me, only partially correct. In fact, if pressed for precision, I’d have to admit, very slightly correct.

So what is the precise explanation for these two issues? Ironically, both are part of the answer. This is wild, let me explain.

He was right about the scraped part. Baseballs are considered unusable after falling to the ground, although that raises the question of why not all baseballs are discarded after they are put into play.

Anyway, the baseballs are thrown into the home team’s dugout, but not to be used for batting practice or indoor / outdoor field drills, rather they are handed over to the official in the dugout for official registration, tagging and ball identification. Ironically, the official is on the bench for safety reasons, but he must protect the scratched baseballs, not the players.

The officer files a report on each baseball that includes, but is not limited to, the date of the game, the pitch count when the ball was discarded, and who the batter was at that time.

The MLB then places these baseballs under strict security and transfers them to New York City, where they are auctioned. This identical scenario occurs in every major league baseball park, in every game, throughout the season.

I was told that there is a huge demand for these baseballs from fans who attended the game for some important reason, like they proposed in the game, the wife was announced pregnant and whatever, whatever.

Not every day I announce to the world that I am incorrect, actually terribly wrong, about something, but this intrigued me so much that I had to let everyone know.

The only thing worse now is that everyone but me knew this.