- Mar 19, 2006
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The life of a baseball
The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd wrote a fantastic deep dive Thursday on a simple question: How many baseballs are used in a single MLB game?
Lloyd attempted to count them all during a recent Guardians-Tigers game. Going into the story, I guessed about 50-75 to myself. Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges guessed 75 when asked. The real number: 115.
115! In one game! Let’s sketch that math:
We had 11 games on the schedule Thursday night. That’s 1,265 baseballs used in one night.
Excluding spring training and the playoffs, we get 2,430 games per year. The calculator tells me that’s 279,450 baseballs per season.
The official MLB baseball, made by Rawlings, lists for $24.95 per ball (a bit harsh, no?), though I have a feeling that MLB gets a decent bulk rate — MLB has co-owned Rawlings since 2018.
Just for fun, though: By those retail numbers, MLB goes through nearly $7 million worth of baseballs every regular season.
The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd wrote a fantastic deep dive Thursday on a simple question: How many baseballs are used in a single MLB game?
Lloyd attempted to count them all during a recent Guardians-Tigers game. Going into the story, I guessed about 50-75 to myself. Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges guessed 75 when asked. The real number: 115.
115! In one game! Let’s sketch that math:
We had 11 games on the schedule Thursday night. That’s 1,265 baseballs used in one night.
Excluding spring training and the playoffs, we get 2,430 games per year. The calculator tells me that’s 279,450 baseballs per season.
The official MLB baseball, made by Rawlings, lists for $24.95 per ball (a bit harsh, no?), though I have a feeling that MLB gets a decent bulk rate — MLB has co-owned Rawlings since 2018.
Just for fun, though: By those retail numbers, MLB goes through nearly $7 million worth of baseballs every regular season.
