KnowraBaseballBaseballA hard ball with a cork or rubber center, wound yarn, and a leather cover, used in the sport of baseball.BriefConnectCork: A lightweight, compressible material harvested from the bark of cork oak trees. Cork can form the resilient center of a baseball.Magnus effect: A force on a spinning object moving through a fluid, caused by differences in fluid pressure. Spin can curve a pitched baseball through this aerodynamic effect.Pitching: The act of throwing a baseball toward home plate to begin a play. Pitchers use grip and release to control the ball’s speed and movement.Dead-ball era: A period in early twentieth-century Major League Baseball marked by low-scoring games and few home runs. The ball’s condition and construction contributed to the era’s low offensive output.Rubber: An elastic material that deforms under force and returns toward its original shape. Rubber is an alternative material for the ball’s inner core.Seam-shifted wake: A force on a ball caused by seams disrupting airflow asymmetrically around it. Raised seams can alter a pitch’s movement beyond the effect of spin alone.Batting: The act of striking a pitched ball with a bat. Batters aim to hit the ball safely or drive it for extra bases.Live-ball era: The period beginning around 1920 when home runs and scoring increased sharply in Major League Baseball. Changes in ball handling and construction accompanied baseball’s offensive shift.Yarn: A continuous strand of fibers twisted or spun together. Wound yarn builds the ball’s layered body around its core.Spin rate: The number of rotations an object makes per unit of time. A baseball’s spin rate helps determine its movement and flight.Show all 21Linked from 1 pageCricket ballCompared with: Its stitching and dimensions reflect a different bat-and-ball game.