Baseball mud is part of the game’s mythology. Since the 1950s, it has been dug up along the Delaware River and applied to brand-new balls by clubhouse attendants. They grab a dab from a container, apply it to the balls with their hands and leave behind a thin brown film.

Study confirms what MLB players have long professed: that the magic mud works and is not simply a superstition.

The unique properties of baseball’s famed “magic” mud have never been scientifically quantified — until now. In a new paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (

A fascinating new study has revealed the mysterious science behind Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud, a specialized substance applied to Major League Baseball (MLB) baseballs to make them easier to grip.