|
Weird
balls
|
 |
Worst
condition It's extremely odd for such an ugly ball to remain in use, even during batting practice. This one came from Shea Stadium in 1992. |
|
 |
Torn
stitches I'm not sure if a player defaced it, or if it simply hit something and ripped. Either way—and like all the other balls here—it was like this when I caught it. |
|
 |
Gash
#1 Damaged balls are worthless to autograph collectors, but I love them. |
|
 |
Gash
#2 My guess is that this ball flew into a section of empty seats and hit the edge of a concrete step. How else could this have happened? |
|
 |
Bat
imprints Occasionally the bat meets the ball just right and leaves an impression of the words that are branded onto the barrel. If you look at the top left ball in a mirror, you can see the replica of Derek Jeter's signature and a portion of "NEW YORK YANKEES" underneath. |
|
 |
Three-dimensional
imprint Unlike the bat imprints above, this one (which came from an unknown source) is actually embedded into the cowhide cover. |
|
 |
Weird
pattern #1 Random markings are fairly common, but few cover such a large portion of the ball. |
|
 |
Weird
pattern #2 I snagged this ball at Citi Field in 2009. It was a high, foul pop-up hit by Angel Pagan. The ball landed on some steps before I was able to grab it. I'm thinking the pattern got imprinted by the tiny ridges in the cement. |
|
 |
Smudges The balls on the left are smudged with pine tar. I'm not sure about the others. |
|
 |
Smeared
logo #1 This must be the product of a foul tip... |
|
 |
Smeared
logo #2 ...so why doesn't it happen more often? |
|
 |
Stains The ball on the lower left had been sitting in a puddle at Veterans Stadium before it was tossed to me. I can't explain the others. |
|
 |
Small
logo Not a big deal but still worth noting: "CUSHIONED CORK CENTER" is slightly smaller here than usual. |
|
 |
Mis-stamped
#1 High. |
|
 |
Mis-stamped
#2 Low. |
|
 |
Mis-stamped
#3 Seasick. |
|
 |
Unstamped There was a time, shortly after the turn of the millennium, when unstamped balls with multi-colored stitching were used during batting practice. |
|
 |
Arizona
Fall League?! |
|
 |
Pacific
Coast League?!?! More minor league weirdness: the Tigers used these balls during batting practice at the Red Sox home opener on April 8, 2008. |
|
 |
International
League?!?!?! Same team, new season, similar ball. The Tigers used these during BP at the Rogers Centre in April 2009. |
|
 |
Lopsided It's not that weird to see a lopsided training ball—training balls are cheap and get knocked out of shape fairly easily—but this is the real deal. |
|
 |
Fingerprint This might be a job for the FBI. It looks like someone touched the Rawlings logo when the ink was wet and left a fingerprint just above it. |
|
 |
Half-dirty Rubbed with mud on top? White and shiny in the middle? Another one of life's mysteries. |
|
