It's the start of baseball season!
Did you know that mud from a secret location on a Delaware River tributary is applied to all new baseballs used by MLB? The mud has the perfect consistency to remove the sheen of new baseballs, giving pitchers more tack and a better feel for the ball.
The special mud has been used by MLB for nearly a century. It was first collected and used by Russell Aubrey "Lena" Blackburne, a coach with Connie Mack’s old Philadelphia Athletics in the 1930s. To this day, "Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud" is still collected and distributed by the family of Blackburne's close friend, who was willed the secret location.
Learn about the mud and then watch former Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher Cole Irvin show you how to properly mud a baseball.