Promotional baseballs are excellent ways of making a statement with your brand name. At
branded, we offer you the chance to design your own baseball with your customization options. This post will give you and insight into how it’s made.
Components of the ball
A typical baseball has three important components: the exterior, made from cowhide covering, the midsection, made of cotton and wool windings, and the core, made with round cushioned cork pill. A sphere of about 2.06 centimeters in diameter made of a cork and rubber material makes up the pill. The sphere is wrapped with a double layer of rubber, a red outer layer, and a black inner layer. The inner layer has two hemispheric shells of black rubbers, attached together by red rubber washers. Wool is used for the baseball winding it is naturally resilient and ‘elastic’, which makes it compress with applied pressure and return to its original state. This feature makes the roundness of the baseball remain intact with repeated hits during the game. The poly/cotton blend used for the outer binding further strengthens the ball and prevents it from tearing when the cowhide cover is applied. The cowhide used for the outer layer is number one grade, alum-tanned, and full-grained. The cover of a typical baseball must be white and stitched together with 88 inches of waxed red thread. Before a cowhide is approved for
major league baseball, it has to be tested for possible deficiencies in thickness, grain strength, tensile strength, and other areas.
Making the Ball
The process of making the ball involves placing consecutive layers of rubber, fabric, and cowhide around a rubbery sphere (the pill). The processes are in three unique stages: the rubber is molded, the fabric is wound, and the cowhide is sewn.
Printing on the Baseball
The customization you choose is printed on the white outer layer (cowhide) of promotional baseballs. This is before the cowhide is sewn. The design, of 300dpi, is cast onto a screen (with different screens for each color). The cowhide leather is laid flat and the layers are printed successively onto the ball. This stage is repetitive until every layer has been printed, then a final finishing layer is applied. Afterward, the strips are attached to the yarn ball, before they are stitched (in figure eight) with the waxed red thread. To ensure there are no raised stitches, the promotional baseball is passed through a rolling machine.
Packing the Promotional Baseballs
Every baseball is checked and cleaned before being wrapped in card or plastic. Custom packaging can also be used upon request. You can design your personalized baseball here.
