RoundRobin/Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud
BarrelProof moved page RoundRobin/Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud to Baseball rubbing mud without leaving a redirect Step of round-robin swap to update for revised RM closure
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{{Short description|Mud used to treat baseballs}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}}
'''Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud''' is a brand of specially prepared [[mud]] used to prepare [[Baseball (ball)|balls]] in the sport of [[baseball]] before they are put into play. Newly manufactured baseballs have a somewhat slick and glossy surface, so when new they are rubbed down with mud to reduce the slickness and give [[pitcher]]s a firmer grip and better control without damaging or discoloring the ball. [[Major League Baseball]] rules require every "pearl", or brand-new baseball, to be rubbed with mud for at least 30 seconds on game day until it achieves the desired texture and off-white color.{{Cite news |last=Barry |first=Dan |date=July 26, 2022 |title=He's Baseball's Only Mud Supplier. It's a Job He May Soon Lose. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/sports/baseball/baseball-mud-supplier.html |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |url-access=subscription}} The effects of adding a substance to the ball have called the attention of physicists over the years.{{Cite journal |last=Pradeep |first=S. | first2=Xiangyu |last2=Chen |first3=Ali |last3=Seiphoori |first4=David R. |last4=Vann |first5=Paulo E. |last5=Arratia |first6=Douglas J. |last6=Jerolmack |date=November 4, 2024 |title=Soft matter mechanics of baseball's Rubbing Mud |url=https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413514121 |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |issue=47 |pages=121}}
==History==
Historically, baseballs were rubbed in a mixture of [[water]] and infield [[soil]], but this method usually discolored the ball's [[leather]] surface. Other alternatives at the time were [[Tobacco water|tobacco juice]], [[shoe polish]], and soil from under stadium [[bleacher]]s. They successfully took off the [[:wikt:sheen|sheen]] from baseballs, but at the same time, they could also damage and scratch the ball's leather.{{cite web |accessdate=October 6, 2009 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102804315 |title=Secret Dirt's Pivotal Role In Baseball |work=[[All Things Considered]] |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=April 6, 2009 }} While [[Lena Blackburne]] was a [[Coach (baseball)|third-base coach]] for the [[Philadelphia Athletics]] (now based in [[Sacramento, California]]), an [[Umpire (baseball)|umpire]] complained to him about the method used at the time, prompting Blackburne in 1938 to set out in search of better mud to use to rub against baseballs. Later that decade, Blackburne discovered a suitable rubbing mud (in a location said to be "near" [[Palmyra, New Jersey]]) and founded the company that he used to sell it – Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud.{{cite web |accessdate=October 6, 2009 |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1018/p18s02-hfks.html?s=widep |title=The dirt on baseball |work=The Christian Science Monitor |date=October 18, 2005 |author=Nordell, John }} According to the company, the entire [[American League]] began using the mud soon after its discovery, and by the 1950s, it was in use by every [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) team, along with some minor league and college teams.
When advancing age prevented him from harvesting the mud, Blackburne, who died in 1968, left the company to a friend, John Haas,{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/28/baseball.mud/index.html?iref=24hours |title=Harvesting baseball's 'magic mud' |first=Thomas |last=Andres |website=[[CNN]] |date=October 28, 2009 |accessdate=January 17, 2016}} who the company says had accompanied him during his searches for an appropriate mud. Haas later left the company to his son-in-law Burns Bintliff, who selected one of his nine children, the current owner Jim, to carry on the business. Jim Bintliff told [[CNN]] in 2009 that the company brought in only about [[United States dollar|$]]20,000 per year, and that he was working full time as a printing press operator. Each of the 30 MLB teams receives {{Convert|10|lb|kg}} of the mud at the start of each season.
== Collection and preparation ==
The mud originates from the New Jersey side of the [[Delaware River]]. It is cleaned and screened before sale. Each year Jim Bintliff visits the mud's source, returns with {{convert|1,000|lb|0}} of it to store over the winter, and sells it the following baseball season. Bintliff told CNN:
The collection process was featured on the first episode of the ''[[Dirty Jobs]]'' television series, titled "[[List of Dirty Jobs episodes|Bat Cave Scavenger]]". Jim Bintliff showed host [[Mike Rowe]] how he identifies and collects the right mud before processing it and preparing it for shipping.
==Usage==
Before all [[MLB]] and [[MiLB]] games, an umpire or clubhouse attendant rubs six dozen or more balls with the mud to give them a rougher surface, to make them easier for pitchers to grip, and to comply with MLB Rule 4.01(c), which states that all baseballs shall be "properly rubbed so that the gloss is removed". The branded mud's key characteristic is that it is "very fine, like thick chocolate pudding", and it has been considered the "perfect baseball-rubbing mud".{{cite web |accessdate=October 6, 2009 |url=http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070406/sps_3737799.shtml |title=All-American mud needed to take shine off baseballs |work=The Florida Times-Union |date=July 4, 2006 |last=Schneider |first=Jason }}{{dead link |date=April 2026}} A study in 2024 found that the mud contains an ideal mixture of clay and water, coating the ball with an adhesive residue, while the suspended sand grains enhance friction and therefore the pitcher's grip.{{Cite web| last = Ouellette| first = Jennifer| title = What makes baseball's 'magic mud' so special?| work = Ars Technica| access-date = November 7, 2024| date = November 7, 2024| url = https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/11/what-makes-baseballs-magic-mud-so-special/}}
The mud is also used by some [[National Football League]] teams.
==Alternatives==
Mechanical efforts to break in a baseball have not proved satisfactory. MLB has been researching an alternative process, but {{As of|2025|lc=y}} had not found a satisfactory alternative to rubbing them by hand with mud.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://baseballrubbingmud.com/ Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud]
[[Category:Baseball equipment|R]]
[[Category:Soil]]
[[Category:Palmyra, New Jersey]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}}
'''Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud''' is a brand of specially prepared [[mud]] used to prepare [[Baseball (ball)|balls]] in the sport of [[baseball]] before they are put into play. Newly manufactured baseballs have a somewhat slick and glossy surface, so when new they are rubbed down with mud to reduce the slickness and give [[pitcher]]s a firmer grip and better control without damaging or discoloring the ball. [[Major League Baseball]] rules require every "pearl", or brand-new baseball, to be rubbed with mud for at least 30 seconds on game day until it achieves the desired texture and off-white color.{{Cite news |last=Barry |first=Dan |date=July 26, 2022 |title=He's Baseball's Only Mud Supplier. It's a Job He May Soon Lose. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/sports/baseball/baseball-mud-supplier.html |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |url-access=subscription}} The effects of adding a substance to the ball have called the attention of physicists over the years.{{Cite journal |last=Pradeep |first=S. | first2=Xiangyu |last2=Chen |first3=Ali |last3=Seiphoori |first4=David R. |last4=Vann |first5=Paulo E. |last5=Arratia |first6=Douglas J. |last6=Jerolmack |date=November 4, 2024 |title=Soft matter mechanics of baseball's Rubbing Mud |url=https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413514121 |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |issue=47 |pages=121}}
==History==
Historically, baseballs were rubbed in a mixture of [[water]] and infield [[soil]], but this method usually discolored the ball's [[leather]] surface. Other alternatives at the time were [[Tobacco water|tobacco juice]], [[shoe polish]], and soil from under stadium [[bleacher]]s. They successfully took off the [[:wikt:sheen|sheen]] from baseballs, but at the same time, they could also damage and scratch the ball's leather.{{cite web |accessdate=October 6, 2009 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102804315 |title=Secret Dirt's Pivotal Role In Baseball |work=[[All Things Considered]] |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=April 6, 2009 }} While [[Lena Blackburne]] was a [[Coach (baseball)|third-base coach]] for the [[Philadelphia Athletics]] (now based in [[Sacramento, California]]), an [[Umpire (baseball)|umpire]] complained to him about the method used at the time, prompting Blackburne in 1938 to set out in search of better mud to use to rub against baseballs. Later that decade, Blackburne discovered a suitable rubbing mud (in a location said to be "near" [[Palmyra, New Jersey]]) and founded the company that he used to sell it – Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud.{{cite web |accessdate=October 6, 2009 |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1018/p18s02-hfks.html?s=widep |title=The dirt on baseball |work=The Christian Science Monitor |date=October 18, 2005 |author=Nordell, John }} According to the company, the entire [[American League]] began using the mud soon after its discovery, and by the 1950s, it was in use by every [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) team, along with some minor league and college teams.
When advancing age prevented him from harvesting the mud, Blackburne, who died in 1968, left the company to a friend, John Haas,{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/28/baseball.mud/index.html?iref=24hours |title=Harvesting baseball's 'magic mud' |first=Thomas |last=Andres |website=[[CNN]] |date=October 28, 2009 |accessdate=January 17, 2016}} who the company says had accompanied him during his searches for an appropriate mud. Haas later left the company to his son-in-law Burns Bintliff, who selected one of his nine children, the current owner Jim, to carry on the business. Jim Bintliff told [[CNN]] in 2009 that the company brought in only about [[United States dollar|$]]20,000 per year, and that he was working full time as a printing press operator. Each of the 30 MLB teams receives {{Convert|10|lb|kg}} of the mud at the start of each season.
== Collection and preparation ==
The mud originates from the New Jersey side of the [[Delaware River]]. It is cleaned and screened before sale. Each year Jim Bintliff visits the mud's source, returns with {{convert|1,000|lb|0}} of it to store over the winter, and sells it the following baseball season. Bintliff told CNN:
If anybody happens to catch me in the act of harvesting mud, I come up with a story to give them a reason I'm putting mud in a bucket. I've told people I use it in my garden, I use it for my rose bushes, I use it for bee stings and poison ivy and any kind of story.
The collection process was featured on the first episode of the ''[[Dirty Jobs]]'' television series, titled "[[List of Dirty Jobs episodes|Bat Cave Scavenger]]". Jim Bintliff showed host [[Mike Rowe]] how he identifies and collects the right mud before processing it and preparing it for shipping.
==Usage==
Before all [[MLB]] and [[MiLB]] games, an umpire or clubhouse attendant rubs six dozen or more balls with the mud to give them a rougher surface, to make them easier for pitchers to grip, and to comply with MLB Rule 4.01(c), which states that all baseballs shall be "properly rubbed so that the gloss is removed". The branded mud's key characteristic is that it is "very fine, like thick chocolate pudding", and it has been considered the "perfect baseball-rubbing mud".{{cite web |accessdate=October 6, 2009 |url=http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070406/sps_3737799.shtml |title=All-American mud needed to take shine off baseballs |work=The Florida Times-Union |date=July 4, 2006 |last=Schneider |first=Jason }}{{dead link |date=April 2026}} A study in 2024 found that the mud contains an ideal mixture of clay and water, coating the ball with an adhesive residue, while the suspended sand grains enhance friction and therefore the pitcher's grip.{{Cite web| last = Ouellette| first = Jennifer| title = What makes baseball's 'magic mud' so special?| work = Ars Technica| access-date = November 7, 2024| date = November 7, 2024| url = https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/11/what-makes-baseballs-magic-mud-so-special/}}
The mud is also used by some [[National Football League]] teams.
==Alternatives==
Mechanical efforts to break in a baseball have not proved satisfactory. MLB has been researching an alternative process, but {{As of|2025|lc=y}} had not found a satisfactory alternative to rubbing them by hand with mud.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://baseballrubbingmud.com/ Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud]
[[Category:Baseball equipment|R]]
[[Category:Soil]]
[[Category:Palmyra, New Jersey]]
