How Many Baseballs Do The Twins Use In A Game?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- When Cole DeVries pitched for the Twins, he'd toss out a few balls out of the game before they were ever even used.
"I might throw it out if I didn't like the feel of it," he said.
Perhaps the rub made the ball too chalky. Sometimes, he felt a mark that made it hard for him to keep control over the ball.
"I rarely made that distinction," he said. "If there were some scuffs on it, I knew how to use that to my advantage to get that ball to move more."
The Twins use, on average, between 100 and 120 baseballs per game. That number doesn't really change between the regular and post-season.
"Major League Baseball is pretty strict from Day 1," said Matt Hodson, communications manager for the Twins. "It's part, they feel, the integrity of the game."
Some baseballs end up in the hands of fans as home runs or foul balls. Most, though, are tossed out by the umpire or pitcher once the ball hits the ground.
"There's no seams on there [baseballs], so any scuff, any abrasion is really going to affect how the ball travels," said DeVries.
DeVries said a scuff could allow the ball to catch more air or cause more resistance, depending on the pitcher. Both pitchers and umpires can decide to take a ball out of play.
"If they see anything, they're not going to mess around, boom, toss it out," said DeVries.
Milestone balls, like first hits or strikeouts or wins, are generally given to the players who earn them. DeVries threw his first strikeout to Joe Mauer in 2012, who tossed it into the dugout. That ball later ended up in DeVries' cubby.
During the September 29 Twins game against Kansas City, the Twins scored three home runs. Those runs – 305, 306 and 307 – would be saved as well. The Twins exchanged an autographed bat and a player with a picture to put those milestone baseballs back in the hands of the Twins.
The Twins spend about $400,000 a year on baseballs, which breaks down to $9/ball.
And, if you're wondering what happens to them when they're tossed from the game: they're used for batting practice for the Twins and their minor league team.