Well surprise surprise. As of writing this, it is 7/18/22 at around 7:00 Eastern time, just one hour from the Home Run Derby, and minutes after batting practice ended at Dodger Stadium. I was keeping an eye on what was being used out of pure curiosity, and then I saw what was used, and it puzzled me. Here is a photo of one of the baseballs that was used in BP.
This is something new. This ball has the same exact logo as the 2022 All Star Game retail baseball, as well as the same “Official Ball 2022 All-Star Game” printing, but the stitching is red, and the ink is standard Rawlings dark blue. It was used in batting practice before the Home Run Derby, and batting practice before the All Star Game itself.
Above is the 2022 All Star Game retail baseball, with its usual bright colored ink stamping and multi-colored stitching. This is what was assumed to be used, a very similar version to 2020.
I don’t have much information on this yet, but I was told MLB had these produced exclusively for batting practice. This is something unforeseen, as it is the first commemorative baseball that I have ever heard of being produced for BP alone. Especially with it not being at retail, it will be somewhat uncommon to find on the market.
My only theories for why these were produced are:
- Someone at MLB wanted ASG balls used in BP, but there were not enough of them.
- There was a last minute shortage of ASG baseballs and they wanted the players to have a specific batch of baseballs to be used.
- MLB wanted fans to get a piece of unique memorabilia in a strange way.
Regardless of these things, I would love to find out more information on this from Rawlings or MLB. If you know anything, please let me know! It seems on the surface like a pointless and stupid move, but I am curious if this will set a precedent or if this is something that had a deeper meaning.
Please tweet me @thefrownyface on Twitter with any information you may have! Thanks for reading.
Interesting.. let’s see what will be used in the ASG.