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Standard balls



  Allan H. Selig

This is the current ball used in the Major Leagues. It features the stamped signature of Commissioner Bud Selig.
     
  Game ball

Same as above except this is a game ball. Umpires (or their assistants) rub gamers with special mud to reduce the slickness and glare.
     
  Gene A. Budig

Each league used to have its own ball. Budig was the president of the American League from 1994-1999.
     
  Leonard S. Coleman Jr.

Coleman was the president of the National League from 1994-1999.
     
  Bobby Brown

Brown was the president of the American League from 1984-1994.
     
  William D. White

White was the president of the National League from 1989-1994.
     
  Made in Haiti

Balls were made in Haiti until 1989. A few of them were still floating around the following season when I caught my first four.
     
  Made in Costa Rica

Rawlings moved.
     
  Costa Rica, Part II

Balls are still made in Costa Rica, but shortly after the move, the words disappeared. Too un-American?
     
  BLEM

Good enough for batting practice but not good enough for games, these blemished balls were stamped and sold at a discount to teams throughout the 90s.
     
  NL practice ball

Some practice balls simply had "PRACTICE" stamped on them.
     
  NL regular ball

Others didn't. ("RO-N" stands for Rawlings Official-National.)
     
  MLB practice balls

Current practice balls are stamped differently.
     
  Unstamped #1

Unstamped balls from All-Star Games often make their way to regular-season batting practice.
     
  Unstamped #2

I'm not crazy about them. A few here and there are okay, but after snagging dozens I start to miss the logo.
     
  Green training ball

In 2006 some teams started using these during BP. They're cheap and ugly and made in China...not that I have anything against China.
     
  Blue training ball

Another year, a different color.