Major League Baseball has taken extreme steps in the past to ensure the legitimacy of the game and preserve the league’s reputation. Some of the game’s best players aren’t in the Hall of Fame because they committed the unforgivable sin of betting on baseball. MLB understandably takes a very hardline stance on things that might damage the integrity of the game.
Except when it comes to the actual baseballs. A big part of Commissioner Rob Manfred’s job is maintaining the reputation of the sport and the league, and he’s been a colossal failure in that regard because of the actual balls being used in games.