Baseball, 1860-1870

In the early days of baseball, balls were made by stitching a leather cover around a yarn-wrapped hard core, usually a piece of rubber. These balls with their so-called "lemon-peel" stitching varied in quality. Many lost their shape during the course of the game. By the late 1870s with the rise of professional teams, baseballs with the recognizable figure-eight cover and familiar red stitching became standard.