Commissioner Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball has cracked down in recent years on the use of sticky substances such as Spider Tack in effort to prevent pitchers from gaining an unfair advantage against batters. However, pitchers soon complained about a lack of grip, and MLB had to work to find a middle-ground solution.
The league turned to Dow, a material science company, to try and help develop a baseball that had more natural tack as a means of convincing pitchers not to use their own substances. But since that agreement occurred, the conversation surrounding sticky stuff and the baseballs has not improved.
That is why Manfred, as part of a series of other announcements, recently revealed that Dow is no longer working on this issue, according to Evan Drellich of The Athletic:
“Dow has kind of cried uncle,” Manfred said. “They spent a ton of money and work with us, and they were great partners, and a lot of good ideas. And we just were not able to come up with a ball that was playable.”
Manfred and MLB have turned to to Rawlings, a company known for its baseball gear, to try and be the next to come up with a solution.
“We’re now focusing our efforts on a tacky ball with the Rawlings people. It is our baseball, they are baseball people, as opposed to chemical people, and we’re going to try that route. We were not successful on the Dow thing, and you know the big change is we are focusing our efforts on working with Rawlings.”
Manfred revealed the change occurred over the winter and those efforts are now underway. With any luck, Rawlings is able to find a playable solution that appeases both pitchers and the league offices. It’s a tall task, and one that Dow simply couldn’t complete.
But as baseball is plagued by all kinds of issues, it would be a massive step forward if one of those was not the very ball that the game is played with.
MLB baseballs experiments
Manfred previously discussed the league’s process of trying to create a baseball with some tack to it and noted they needed to revisit the process because of trouble that arose when heat was factored in.
“I think the main thing that Major League Baseball was trying to prioritize is having it consistent. And every ballpark relative to weather, humidity, altitude, trying to make the baseball as consistent for the pitcher as possible,” Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said in May.
“But as far as Kenley’s (Jansen) thoughts on it being slick, not tacky enough, I haven’t heard that from our guys. But when they do go other places, you certainly hear murmurs. But I really don’t have enough kind of insight in that. I do know that Major League Baseball is trying to get it as consistent as possible.”
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