When Jim Bintliff first heard that MLB wanted to standardize instructions for applying mud to its baseballs, two ideas came to mind.
The first was a little sad: He’s always appreciated that some clubhouse attendants have their own styles when it comes to preparing a baseball. These new instructions, Bintliff figured, would do away with those idiosyncrasies for good. Because a brand-new baseball has a shiny, factory gloss that can make it difficult to grip, it needs to be rubbed down before it can be used in a game, and for decades, MLB’s rules have dictated that process involve just one substance—mud.