mockamoke

What determines whether or not a baseball is rejected for play after it has contacted dirt, grass, backstop, etc? As a fan, it seems that the smallest abrasion results in balls being thrown to the side by the ump, even though the event causing a ball's removal was a single one-hop into the catcher's mitt or a slow two-hop on the grass along foul territory towards third base. Do the minor leagues have similarly strict criteria for this process? Do they use the three dozen balls per game that the majors are said to? And who pays for the balls anyway - home team or visitors?

I played hardball up to the high school level and do not recall any particular attention being paid to scuffs, grass stains, dirt spots, or other kinds of minor imperfections to the surface of a ball during play. Replacements happened only when a ball was "lost" from a long fly into the parking lot/home run, was trapped up there on the top of the backstop fencing, or otherwise rendered unavailable. What's the story?

Rabbit Boss by Thomas Sanchez is a novel of considerable renown for its vision and sensitivity that brings to life four generations of the Washo in Nevada and Eastern California. The book will bring to life for you the surreal and overpowering historical event that was the transformation of a land and the impact on its people. Alternately heartbreaking and absurd, the story unfolds beautifully. If you read anything as a companion to Bury My Heart make it this book; you will find it hard to put down. One note - avoid reading reviews so that the full impact of the initial contact scene is not spoiled for you; every summary and/or review mentions that scene because of its tremendous power and importance to what is to come. Just get the book and read it.