For more than 80 years, baseball has relied on a stash of special mud to take the shine off balls’ slick leather and give fielders a better grip. The substance is rubbed on every baseball before ...

For more than 80 years, baseball has relied on a stash of special mud to take the shine off balls’ slick leather and give fielders a better grip. The substance is rubbed on every baseball before ...

“Mud, Blood & Layers Of Leather”: James Norton On His Period Epic ‘King & Conqueror ...

New research homes in on the interactions between the magic mud and the leather ball that may boost friction during gameplay; it also hints at other applications for mud (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U ...

The mud also gives the balls a more uniform surface by filling in the pores on the leather, and it can effectively double the contact adhesion, or stickiness, between the ball and the pitcher’s ...

Since the 1940s, baseball players have been spreading a special kind of "magic mud" on new baseballs to reduce the slick, glossy shine and give pitchers a firmer grip.

The Summary. For years, a special mud has been rubbed on every baseball before every major league game to make it less slippery. The mud’s story dates to the 1930s, and MLB still relies on one ...