Vintage 1949-1951 Spalding Official National League Ford C. Frick Baseball. The presence of the three stars in "Official National League" and the absence of the "PAT. RE-17200" beneath the words "The Cushioned Cork Center" indicate the period in which the ball was created, as Warren Giles became the new President in 1952. 

Condition: Horsehide and stitching in good shape. Lettering is faded. 

Size: 3 x 3 x 3 in. 

#3658 . 

In the early days of baseball in the 1800s there was a great variety in the size, shape, weight, and manufacturing of baseballs. The first baseballs were made with a rubber core from old, melted shoes, wrapped in yarn and leather. Fish eyes were also used as cores in some places. Pitchers usually made their own balls, which were used throughout the game, softening and coming unraveled as the game went on. In the mid 1850s teams in New York met in an attempt to standardize the baseball. They decided to regulate the weight of baseballs at five-and-a-half to six ounces, with a circumference of eight to eleven inches. However, there were still many variations of baseballs since they were completely handmade. There is no agreement on who invented the commonplace figure-8 stitching on baseballs. Some historians say it was invented by Ellis Drake, a shoemaker’s son, to make the cover stronger and more durable. Others say it was invented by Colonel William A. Cutler and sold to William Harwood in 1858. Harwood built the nation’s first baseball factory in Natick, Massachusetts, and was the first to popularize and mass-produce baseballs with the figure-8 design. In 1876, the National League (NL) was created, and standard rules and regulations were put in place. Cushioned wood cores were patented in the late 19th Century by sports equipment manufacturer Spalding, the company founded by former baseball star A.G. Spalding. He convinced the NL to adopt his ball as the official baseball for the NL, and it remained that way for a century. In 1910, the cork-core ball was introduced, which outlasted rubber core baseballs. In 1934, The National League and American League came to a compromise and standardized the baseball. They agreed on a cushion cork center, two wrappings of yarn, a special rubber cement coating, two more wrappings of yarn, and, finally, a horsehide cover. Baseballs have gone through only a few small changes since the compromise, mainly due to rationing of rubber in World War II and the invention of synthetic rubber, as well as the decision to replace horsehide with cowhide in 1974. In 1976, MLB ended its relationship with Spalding for manufacturing their baseballs and switched to Rawlings, which still provides the balls to MLB today.

Horsehide and stitching in good shape. Lettering is faded.