Major League Baseball's Magic Mud

For all those with little sports knowledge (much like this writer), here's a fun bit of baseball trivia: Major League Baseball's rule book states that before every game, umpires must inspect new balls to make sure all gloss is properly removed. If the gloss isn't removed, pitchers might not be able to grip the ball, making it more likely for betters to get hit and hurt by wild pitches.

Removing that gloss is quite literally a dirty business. According to a story on CNN.com, teams remove the gloss using a combination of spit, mud and rubbing. (Really makes you want to nab one of those homers, right?). And that's where Jim Bintliff comes in.

Bintliff's been in the baseball mud business for about 44 years now, inheriting Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud, a business founded way back in 1938. Bintliff harvests the mud from a secret location on the banks of the Delaware River, which he then strains and cures in his backyard. After letting it sit in containers for months, Bintliff sends the mud now primed for baseball rubbin' to all Major League Baseball teams and their minor-league affiliates. Bintliff's business is the only provider of ball mud for the MLB.

Bintliff inherited the mud business from his father, Burns Bintliff, who got the company from his father-in-law, John Haas. Haas was a friend of Lena Blackburne's, former manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, who founded the mucky business and discovered the fishing hole where the mud is still dredged from. Bintliff says once he retires, he plans to pass the mud responsibilities onto his daughter, Rachel.

Bintliff says that he earns about $20,000 a year for his mud, so he still works as a printing press operator, too. Even still, that's some pricey dirt!

Photo courtesy of Tage Olsin via Wikimedia Commons.