The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-07-20
MAKING BASEBALLS
BY NO MEANS SIMPLE
Only Handw0rk Is Sewing
On the Covers
REQUIRES TRAINING
Have Para Rubber Center and Are
Wound With Yarn by Machinery.
But One Comes Back Out
of $50 Dozen
From the Springfield Republican.

There are few fans who realize just
how much work is required in the MAX
ing of regulation sized baseball. One
might imagine that in this day of in
vention and machinery that baseball
could be made entirely by machinery.
Shoes are made with the aid of ma
chinery, the sewing, stitching and cut.
ting being almost done entirely with
machines. Not SO with baseballs, how
ever-that is, as far as the cover is
concerned. 1t requires skill and men of
long experience to sew a cover on a
ball. Watching a worker sew a cover
must give one the impression that the
operation is easy, but this is where
one may be wrong. The operation is all
done by hand, and has always been.
The centers of baseballs are made of
pure para rubber in most cases. but
the cork center ball, which has been
patented, is an exception. The idea of
the center piece of rubber, of course,
is to give the ball resiliency If a base
ball was made without this center piece
1t would be dead" that is, it would
not have the desired bounding quai-
tiles, the life" The center pieces are
generally made to order for the base
ball factories. The next process in the
making of ball Is the winding on
of pure wooden yarn. There was a time
When the yarn was wound around the
para by hand, but soon it became nee
essary to get machine which would
do the work of man. 1t was found,
in the times when the yarn was wound
by hand, that the man coming to work
at o'clock In the morning was putting
out better balls than he was in the
afternoon around o'clock Winding by
hand was tiresome job and toward
the late afternoon the men began to
get tired and consequently the yarn
was not wound around the ball tight
enough, Many balls We're retured to
the factory because they did not pos
sess the resilient powers.
Wound by Machinery
Realizing that this personal defect
was something which had to be over
come, a machine for the winding pur-
pose was worked upon and perfected
Now all baseballs are wound by me-
chanical power and much better work
than man did or can do is accomplished
The yarn is wound around the para
under heavy tension, almost to a
breaking point. Consequently when
enough has been put on the ball is
very strong and almost solid, due to
the tight tension used. In the days of
hand making many balls were soggy
could not be kept by the person wind
ing There are three layers of wooden
yarn over the para. For about an inch
In thickness three-ply yarn of blue
color is used, and over this is wound
a thin layer of white two-ply yarn
The blue yarn is again brought into
use, but is only of one-ply.
Naturally it develops that something
to cover the wool yarn must be used
IN order to keep 1T from unWinding
The ball must be solid, so that when
1T comes in contact with a bat the
threads will not break or move out of
place. 1t has been found that cameTs
heir stretched yarn is the best for
covering the ball after the wool has
been put ON and the ball is the size
desired. This hair is put on wet and
when it dries a contraction takes place.
making the ball more firm and at the
same time solodifying it. Only a thin
layer of the camels hair is used lust
enough to warrant the wool yarn Keen
ing in position. After the drying pro-
cess Is over very fine layer of spe-
cially made cement is applied by means
of dipping the ball into the fluid Then
the ball is ready for the cover.
Most balls are covered with alum tan
horsehide, the best material it is claimed,
which has been found to be of good use
for the hammerng which a baseball gets
This is cut into its proper shape by means
OF pin dies, which also punch small holes
around the edge of the hide to be used in
the sewing. The ball is sent to the men
doing the sewing, which, as stated before.
requires work of the hand Machines
have been tried, but not one of them has
proved equal to the task. The men who
sew on the cover must be of experience
and very capable in their work. This
sewing process must be done with great
accuracy. The work appears to be tire
some and rather tedious, and so 1t is
A man working at his fastest cannot do
more than, from two to three dozen a
day.
Rough Seams Smoofhed