• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

San Francisco Sports Today

San Francisco Sports News Continuously Updated

  • Baseball
    • A’s
    • Giants
  • Football
    • 49’ers
    • Raiders
  • Basketball
    • Kings
    • Warriers
  • Sharks
  • Earthquakes
  • Colleges
    • San Jose State
    • Stanford
    • University of California, Berkeley

Elephant Rumblings: MLB issues ‘muddying’ guidelines for ball uniformity

June 22, 2022 by Athletics Nation

Los Angeles Angels v Oakland Athletics
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

MLB news roundup

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

Over the past year, MLB has been cracking down on pitchers’ use of foreign substances on baseballs for a better grip. In a complementary move, the league is now issuing new rules on “muddying” baseballs to improve their grip—a decades old practice—in order to give them a more consistent feel from game to game.

The league issued a memo to all 30 teams yesterday per Jesse Rogers at ESPN, and the new guidelines requiring all teams to use exactly the same muddying technique takes effect today. The league gathered feedback from players over the past two months prior to issuing the new guidelines.

The memo specifies that a very precise “painting” technique that takes 30-40 seconds must be used on each ball. In addition to prescribing this uniform muddying technique, the league will now require the balls to be prepared on game day only; in the past, clubhouse attendants would generally muddy balls days before each game with canned Delaware River mud.

The memo also instructs teams to handle and store balls in a uniform manner:

  • All baseballs for a given game must be muddied within a three hour window.
  • After muddying, the balls must be placed back in their Rawlings box and put in the humidor.
  • No more than eight dozen game balls may be placed in a ball bag, which must be cleaned thoroughly before each use.
  • All game balls must be stored in humidors for at least 14 days before muddying.

Despite stricter enforcement of the prohibition on grip-enhancing substances like Spider Tack, substantially fewer home runs have been hit in the big leagues so far in 2022 compared to recent years. This has been attributed to the completed phase-in of a less lively ball as well as more widespread humidor use. But as the summer wears on and the weather heats up, we may see a shift in this trend.

Time will tell just how impactful the league’s tinkering with baseballs and how they are stored and treated will prove to be in the longer run.

A’s Coverage:

  • Ashford: Game #69: A’s lose to Mariners 8-2
  • Hall: A’s roster moves: Shuffling the roster with 7 transactions
  • Bowden: MLB trade deadline: Ranking the top 10 starting pitchers who could be traded, and their best team fits ($)
  • Thanawalla: Allen’s first career MLB homers comes in A’s loss to Mariners

MLB News & Interest:

  • Franco: Injured List Transactions: DeSclafani, Solano, Buehler
  • Rogers: Memo: MLB to require all teams to ‘muddy’ ball using exact same technique
  • Martino: Mark Canha talks Pride Night, feminism, the Tampa Bay Rays, and how to use our platform and privilege
  • Hayes: Dodgers’ Trayce Thompson gets another shot at MLB dream ($)
  • Law: MLB Mock Draft 2.0: Druw Jones goes No. 1 to Orioles in Keith Law’s latest projection ($)
  • Franco: Mets Notes: Scherzer, deGrom, Megill
  • Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

  • Good news for Dany Jiménez.

Kotsay said MRI showed no structural damage for Dany Jiménez but they’ll be cautious and make sure he’s 100% before returning. They’ll go with matchups to close out games. A.J. Puk and Zach Jackson mentioned as options to fill that role in Jiménez’s absence.

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) June 21, 2022

By this measure, the best!

Paul Blackburn is really good. https://t.co/gzdFnTVxu7

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) June 21, 2022

Jonah Bride hitting as advertised.

Jonah Bride has at least one hit in each of his last six games.

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) June 22, 2022

I’d call this a snub on Blackburn!

First round of All-Star voting has been released. No A’s in the top 10 at any position. pic.twitter.com/FbrJXv4sQq

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) June 21, 2022

A well earned return to the bigs for Nick Allen—who hit his first home run for the A’s last night!

Nick Allen has been swinging it well. Slashing .365/.500/.538 for the month of June with a homer, six doubles and 11 RBIs, 14 walks in 16 games.

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) June 21, 2022

Schaaf on Manfred.

Mayor Libby Schaaf describes meeting with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred https://t.co/yQTymvCSK4

— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) June 22, 2022

I certainly do prefer the stadium mock-ups to this image.

Responding to a DM that asked “Why shouldn’t Howard Terminal remain industrial?” In words: cleaner air & water, open space & parks, investment in climate change remediation, public use of waterfront, cleaner/safer jobs for workers. pic.twitter.com/GDQsMkunbZ

— Michael Colbruno ☮️ (@MikeOpera) June 21, 2022

Good on Ramón Laureano for making a young fan’s day.

Big shout out to Ramón for taking the time out of his pre-game routine to stop by and make this kid the happiest on earth! They say the heart of a player lies within his glove. Humbled and grateful for 22! pic.twitter.com/wpfeHbXP1Y

— Bryan (@SandLot408) June 22, 2022

Filed Under: A's

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • What was the best 49ers’ win the last five years?
  • Can you guess this 49ers QB in today’s in-5 trivia game?
  • Mike Florio lists 49ers as one of five legitimate NFC Super Bowl contenders
  • Willy Adames has got your back
  • Kraken sign forward Tye Kartye to a two-year, $2.5 million contract extension

Categories

  • 49'ers
  • A's
  • Earthquakes
  • Giants
  • Kings
  • Raiders
  • San Jose State
  • Sharks
  • Stanford
  • Uncategorized
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Warriers

Archives

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021

Our Partners

All Sports

  • San Francisco Chronicle
  • San Francisco Examiner
  • The Mercury News
  • 247 Sports
  • Bleacher Report
  • Forgotten 5
  • Golden Gate Sports
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • The Spun
  • USA Today

Baseball

  • San Francisco Giants
  • Oakland A's
  • Last Word On Baseball - Oakland A's
  • Last Word On Baseball - San Francisco Giants
  • MLB Trade Rumors - A's
  • MLB Trade Rumors - Giants
  • White Cleat Beat
  • Around The Foghorn
  • Athletics Nation
  • McCovey Chronicles

Basketball

  • Golden State Warriors
  • Sacramento Kings
  • A Royal Pain
  • Amico Hoops - Kings
  • Amico Hoops - Warriors
  • Blue Man Hoop
  • Golden State Of Mind
  • Hoops Hype - Warriors
  • Hoops Hype - Kings
  • Hoops Rumors - Warriors
  • Hoops Rumors - Kings
  • Lets Go Warriors
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Golden State
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Sacramento
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Warriors
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Kings
  • Real GM - Warriors
  • Real GM - Kings
  • Sactown Royalty

Football

  • San Francisco 49ers
  • Las Vegas Raiders
  • 49ers Gab
  • Just Blog Baby
  • Last Word On Pro Football
  • NFL Trade Rumors - San Francisco 49ers
  • NFL Trade Rumors - Las Vegas Raiders
  • Niners Nation
  • Niner Noise
  • Niners Wire
  • Our Turf Football
  • Pro Football Rumors - 49ers
  • Pro Football Rumors - Raiders
  • Pro Football Talk - 49ers
  • Pro Football Talk - Raiders
  • Raiders Wire
  • Silver And Black Pride
  • Total 49ers

Hockey

  • Blades Of Teal
  • Fear The Fin
  • Last Word On Hockey
  • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Talk
  • The Hockey Writers

Soccer

  • Center Line Soccer
  • Last Word on Soccer
  • MLS Multiplex

College

  • Busting Brackets
  • California Golden Blogs
  • College Sports Madness
  • College Football News
  • Rule Of Tree
  • Saturday Blitz
  • The Daily Californian
  • The Stanford Daily
  • Zags Blog

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in