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Popeye_Card wrote:

planet pujolsian wrote:Easton, for some reason I had to sig you.

On this topic, I heard once that all MLB infields are made out of the same dirt, and this dirt comes from Valmeyer, IL. Has anyone else ever heard this?

Popeye_Card wrote:

planet pujolsian wrote:Easton, for some reason I had to sig you.

On this topic, I heard once that all MLB infields are made out of the same dirt, and this dirt comes from Valmeyer, IL. Has anyone else ever heard this?

Baseball fields used to be packed with clay, which turned rock hard in the sun and melted into a slippery mess after a downpour. Today major league clubs often use a sports dirt mix called Beam Clay, made by Partac Peat Corp. Its dirts for the diamond, pitcher's mound, and home plate contain different ratios of red clay (for firmness) and orange sand (for drainage and softness). Both come from New Jersey. The pitcher's mound is the firmest, says Jim Kelsey, Partac's president. Its dirt must stay in place when a pitcher throws.

All 30 major league teams use riverbank mud from a tidal tributary of the Delaware River in New Jersey. The exact location is an old secret guarded by Jim Bintliff. He owns Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud, and its mud has the look and feel of chocolate pudding.

The secret mud was discovered in the 1930s. Back then, Lena Blackburne was a third-base coach for the old Philadelphia Athletics baseball team. Teams used infield dirt and water to rub on baseballs.

In 1938, an umpire complained to Blackburne about the condition of the balls. So when Blackburne went home to New Jersey, he discovered mud that seemed perfect for rubbing. He tested it, and players were impressed. By the late 1950s, the mud was being used by all major league teams. Blackburne passed the business - and the secret location - on to a friend. Now Mr. Bintliff's family is in charge. Each July, Bintliff goes to the secret spot, digs up 1,000 pounds of mud, and stores it over the winter to sell during the next season.

doe_boy wrote: More 'dirt' on MLB dirt:

Baseball fields used to be packed with clay, which turned rock hard in the sun and melted into a slippery mess after a downpour. Today major league clubs often use a sports dirt mix called Beam Clay, made by Partac Peat Corp. Its dirts for the diamond, pitcher's mound, and home plate contain different ratios of red clay (for firmness) and orange sand (for drainage and softness). Both come from New Jersey. The pitcher's mound is the firmest, says Jim Kelsey, Partac's president. Its dirt must stay in place when a pitcher throws.

All 30 major league teams use riverbank mud from a tidal tributary of the Delaware River in New Jersey. The exact location is an old secret guarded by Jim Bintliff. He owns Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud, and its mud has the look and feel of chocolate pudding.

The secret mud was discovered in the 1930s. Back then, Lena Blackburne was a third-base coach for the old Philadelphia Athletics baseball team. Teams used infield dirt and water to rub on baseballs.

In 1938, an umpire complained to Blackburne about the condition of the balls. So when Blackburne went home to New Jersey, he discovered mud that seemed perfect for rubbing. He tested it, and players were impressed. By the late 1950s, the mud was being used by all major league teams. Blackburne passed the business - and the secret location - on to a friend. Now Mr. Bintliff's family is in charge. Each July, Bintliff goes to the secret spot, digs up 1,000 pounds of mud, and stores it over the winter to sell during the next season.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1018/p18s ... ml?s=widep

Fan_In_NY wrote:

doe_boy wrote: More 'dirt' on MLB dirt:

Baseball fields used to be packed with clay, which turned rock hard in the sun and melted into a slippery mess after a downpour. Today major league clubs often use a sports dirt mix called Beam Clay, made by Partac Peat Corp. Its dirts for the diamond, pitcher's mound, and home plate contain different ratios of red clay (for firmness) and orange sand (for drainage and softness). Both come from New Jersey. The pitcher's mound is the firmest, says Jim Kelsey, Partac's president. Its dirt must stay in place when a pitcher throws.

All 30 major league teams use riverbank mud from a tidal tributary of the Delaware River in New Jersey. The exact location is an old secret guarded by Jim Bintliff. He owns Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud, and its mud has the look and feel of chocolate pudding.

The secret mud was discovered in the 1930s. Back then, Lena Blackburne was a third-base coach for the old Philadelphia Athletics baseball team. Teams used infield dirt and water to rub on baseballs.

In 1938, an umpire complained to Blackburne about the condition of the balls. So when Blackburne went home to New Jersey, he discovered mud that seemed perfect for rubbing. He tested it, and players were impressed. By the late 1950s, the mud was being used by all major league teams. Blackburne passed the business - and the secret location - on to a friend. Now Mr. Bintliff's family is in charge. Each July, Bintliff goes to the secret spot, digs up 1,000 pounds of mud, and stores it over the winter to sell during the next season.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1018/p18s ... ml?s=widep

This can't be too tough to find. if you guys pitch in enough money, I walk up and down the Delaware Water Gap and find where this guy is getting his mud.

TabascoElvis wrote:I understand why it had to happen but I'm more than just a little verklempt right now. I've got family from Jasper and have spent a fair amount of time there. Most recently the summer before last when we ate at a place in Ireland called the Chicken Place. The owner has Scotty's cell phone number. They played ball together in HS. I'm sad to see him go.

My bobbleheads have taken a beating this offseason. I'm down to Pujols, with Jimmy and Scotty gone.