On Jan. 10, 1938, four ballplayers met to take batting practice on a freezing day in Baltimore. They were Jimmie Foxx, the three-time home-run leader; Chuck Klein, the slugging right fielder; Bill Cissell, the light-hitting veteran; and Charlie Keller, the minor league batting champ. It was a rather strange group—all played for different teams, with different styles, and, again, it was the middle of January. But MLB had wanted to see an assortment of hitters, and they needed to take care of this before spring training, no matter how cold it was. They were there to test out a new baseball—a deadened ball, with raised seams and loosened twine, designed to take some of the offense out of the game.
Deadening the Baseball? MLB's Done It Before
