Gehrig
11-18-01, 03:27 PM
OK...according to Rawlings (NOT a user friendly website !! :lol: ) ...
108 Stitches...(Can't debate Rawlings on this... :lol: )
The seams are machined rolled for about 15 seconds to compress the 108 stitches and produce a consistent surface....(There ya go #1YankeeLover !! )
Making the Grade
In 1999, Major League Baseball gave Rawlings Sporting Goods a firm vote of confidence by awarding a 5 -year contract extension as the exclusive supplier of baseballs to the big league teams. In addition, the NCAA granted Rawlings the official supplier of baseballs for all NCAA Baseball Championships for the next five years. Rawlings has been the exclusive supplier to the Major Leagues since 1977.
Cowhide covers for the Major League baseball, which former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn discreetly authorized in 1974 to replace horsehide, are produced at Tennessee Tanning Company, an operating entity of Rawlings Sporting Goods Company in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
The qualities demanded of a Major League baseball cover address its consistent thickness, grain strength, stretch, tensile strength and resistance to tearing the 108 stitches that hold each sphere's 8'-shaped cover in place. Covers actually undergo inspection to guard against 17 potential deficiencies before earning the right to someday sail across a Major League home plate.
The "pill" or nucleus of each baseball is manufactured at Muscle Shoals Rubber Company in Batesville, Mississippi. This red-pellet core, known as cushion cork, is enveloped within two balanced rubber coverings. The cemented surface of the pill receives a series of three wool and one-cotton windings. Rawlings employs a consultant to insure the quality of yarns, some of which derive from Dolgeville, New York, where Rawlings operates its Adirondack bat plant. As each is completed, the ball is measured and weighed against a standard specification set forth by Major League Baseball.
After being trimmed of excess tailings, the wound ball accepts a film of cement before the cowhide cover is hand stitched together with 88 inches of waxed thread. The seams are machined rolled for about 15 seconds to compress the 108 stitches and produce a consistent surface. Cosmetic grading, measurement and weighing follows, with each ball required to be free of blemishes, measuring 9 to 9 ¼ inches across two seems, and weighing from 5 to 5 ¼ ounces.
After being Stamped with the Rawlings trademark and Major League designation, the balls are then shipped to central warehouse in Springfield, Missouri where a statistically - representative sample from each shipment is tested for the Major League- sanctioned test to measure a baseball's co-efficient of restitution (COR). This test involves shooting the baseballs from an air cannon at a velocity of 85 feet per second against a wood surface eight feet away. The rebound speed is divided by the delivery velocity to calculate the COR. League specifications stipulate the baseballs must register a rebound 54.6% of the original velocity, plus or minus 3.2 percent. They also must retain their shape after being subjected to a 65-pound force and distort less than 8/100ths of an inch under compression. Such are the Major League demands for the game's official sphere.
108 Stitches...(Can't debate Rawlings on this... :lol: )
The seams are machined rolled for about 15 seconds to compress the 108 stitches and produce a consistent surface....(There ya go #1YankeeLover !! )
Making the Grade
In 1999, Major League Baseball gave Rawlings Sporting Goods a firm vote of confidence by awarding a 5 -year contract extension as the exclusive supplier of baseballs to the big league teams. In addition, the NCAA granted Rawlings the official supplier of baseballs for all NCAA Baseball Championships for the next five years. Rawlings has been the exclusive supplier to the Major Leagues since 1977.
Cowhide covers for the Major League baseball, which former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn discreetly authorized in 1974 to replace horsehide, are produced at Tennessee Tanning Company, an operating entity of Rawlings Sporting Goods Company in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
The qualities demanded of a Major League baseball cover address its consistent thickness, grain strength, stretch, tensile strength and resistance to tearing the 108 stitches that hold each sphere's 8'-shaped cover in place. Covers actually undergo inspection to guard against 17 potential deficiencies before earning the right to someday sail across a Major League home plate.
The "pill" or nucleus of each baseball is manufactured at Muscle Shoals Rubber Company in Batesville, Mississippi. This red-pellet core, known as cushion cork, is enveloped within two balanced rubber coverings. The cemented surface of the pill receives a series of three wool and one-cotton windings. Rawlings employs a consultant to insure the quality of yarns, some of which derive from Dolgeville, New York, where Rawlings operates its Adirondack bat plant. As each is completed, the ball is measured and weighed against a standard specification set forth by Major League Baseball.
After being trimmed of excess tailings, the wound ball accepts a film of cement before the cowhide cover is hand stitched together with 88 inches of waxed thread. The seams are machined rolled for about 15 seconds to compress the 108 stitches and produce a consistent surface. Cosmetic grading, measurement and weighing follows, with each ball required to be free of blemishes, measuring 9 to 9 ¼ inches across two seems, and weighing from 5 to 5 ¼ ounces.
After being Stamped with the Rawlings trademark and Major League designation, the balls are then shipped to central warehouse in Springfield, Missouri where a statistically - representative sample from each shipment is tested for the Major League- sanctioned test to measure a baseball's co-efficient of restitution (COR). This test involves shooting the baseballs from an air cannon at a velocity of 85 feet per second against a wood surface eight feet away. The rebound speed is divided by the delivery velocity to calculate the COR. League specifications stipulate the baseballs must register a rebound 54.6% of the original velocity, plus or minus 3.2 percent. They also must retain their shape after being subjected to a 65-pound force and distort less than 8/100ths of an inch under compression. Such are the Major League demands for the game's official sphere.