The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-11

ing leagues are becoming more nu-
merous and the game is being played
as it never was before. 1t is next to
impossible to attempt to get an esti-
mate of the number of balls used in
one season by all teams, so many are
the clubs that are playing. They are
playing the game in a few more places
besides HolyOke, Springfield and In
dian Orchard, and they'll be banging
home runs in the wilds of South
Africa some day when Ludlow is the
locus quo for the real city sports
Down in South America big ship
ments of baseballs are received, and
there are also big amounts of exports
to the Philippines, Cuba and other dis
tant lands.
The making of ball to bang around
the lots requires more skill and care
than the average fan imagines. The
ball must be perfect sphere of GER
tain weight and circumference, and
any slip up in the early stages of it's
building will throw it completely out
of killer at the finish. The rules say
that the heft must not be more than
five and quarter ounces and cannot
be less than five. A local manufac-
tGrer of bali used i'm the Connecticut
league and several other leagues makes
his standard five and one-eighth
ounces. The circumference must be
between nine and nine and one-Quar-
ter inches, so the mark aimed at is
nine and one-eighth. The ball I'm its
first stage is a small spherical piece
of vulcaniZed rubber of a certain size,
weight and bounding capacity. If the
rubber is a bit n. G. the ball turned
out will be a poor one. In fact, dur
ing the process of evolution, from the
rubber sphere to the nice snow white
sphere tied up in the box, measure
ments are taken seven times. After
the rubber has passed the test il is
buried by four-ply yarn, which must
pass muster for size, weight. strength
and cleanness. If the yarn is oily,
extra weight will be added, which
will cause damaging results. After a
certain amount of fOur-ply yarn has
been used the sphere is cemented, then
given coating of three ply yarn, ce-
mented once more and a two-ply yarn
is wound around. The cement is again
used. This cement must also be of q
certain standard.
The next step in the manufacture of
a league ball is the addition of camel's
hair, fine and strong. The ball is then
subjected to heavy pressure and is
moulded into the proper shape and
size Then ii is ready for its cover
Horse hide is generally used to hide
the yarn, and experts say the hide must
satisfy certain tests, and that the only
leather that will answer the purpose
is horse hide properly treated. The
two parts of the cover are sewed by
hand, and the man with the needle
makes the hole for the thread as he
sews. League balls receive 112 stitches
and it is claimed that the total num-
Der of stitches never varies more than
enc or two from this number. The
ball, now sewed up, isn't ready for use
yet, but must go through more OPERA
lions before it is shipped away to the
ball players.
In the making of the balls used on
the sand lots, of course there isn't as
much care used, but the operations
are practically the same, although
the material is different. 1t is a fact
that hundreds of Springfield women
use up some of their spare time at
home sewing the cheaper grades of
ball, and it is figured that within the
last ten years more than 5000 SPRING
field women have taken part in the
work. The cheaper grades of balls are
not sewed in the factory, but are let
out here and there, giving employment
to people who are physically unable
to handle anything much heavier
than a 25-cent ball. Higher price and
league balls are all stitched in the
factory. The output of baseballs in a
Springfield factory, including all
grades of balls. is 100000 a year.