A Brief History of the Baseball

Photo: Flickr user Poppy Wright

In the pre-professional days of baseball, balls were made by cobblers from the rubber remnants of old shoes, with rubber cores wrapped in yarn and a leather cover. In some regions, sturgeon eyes were used instead of melted shoe rubber. In the 1840s and ’50s pitchers often just made their own balls.

The “lemon peel” baseball (image: keyman collectibles)

There were several innovations over the years but, with a few exceptions, the baseball hasn’t changed much since 1934 when the American League and the National League agreed on a standard ball.
Read more about the history of the baseball at Smithsonian.