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04-15-2014, 11:32 PM #11
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04-15-2014, 11:32 PM #12
Re: Fake Rawlings Official Major League Baseball (ROMLB) ? ?
Quick baseball 'ball' history...
1st - the 'black print' balls are in fact Official Rawlings Baseballs. Lesser quality leather. I never saw them at WalMart, but when OMLBs were still around $14-$15 at Target and such, Big 5 Sporting Goods use to carry these next to their 'Blue Print' OMLB Balls. OMLBs were $16. The Black Print were $9-$10,
2nd - YES, NL was Black, AL was Blue (a lighter blue than the OMLBs). The Darker Blue represents a combining of the League Balls into the OMLB Ball. They darkened the blue to represent the black and light blue blending.
Prior to 1934, the NL Balls had Black Print and were two toned stitched with Black and Red thread while AL Balls had Blue Print and were two toned stitched with Blue and Red threads. In 1934, they kept their respective print colors but went to all red stitching and continued until 2000 when the individual League Balls were dropped in favor of the OMLB.
Hope this helps
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04-16-2014, 06:29 AM #13
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- Sep 2012
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Re: Fake Rawlings Official Major League Baseball (ROMLB) ? ?
I think what's even more troubling than that ball is the replica baseballs from the early 1900's up into the 1930's. If I hadn't have seen the word replica in the auction description I would've never known the difference.
Here is one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Official-Ame...4#ht_63wt_1362
And another: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Official-Ame...#ht_613wt_1124
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04-16-2014, 11:13 AM #14
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- Jan 2014
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Re: Fake Rawlings Official Major League Baseball (ROMLB) ? ?
Very interesting post Smitty! Thanks for the information!
That would help to explain why my early 90's Pirates bats are covered black ink-transferred ball marks. Also solves the mystery of the 2 shades of blue ball marks I've seen on various bats.
Beat 'em, Bucs!
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04-17-2014, 02:46 AM #15
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- Apr 2010
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Re: Fake Rawlings Official Major League Baseball (ROMLB) ? ?
These were called replica balls and Rawlings issued them a few years back. They were 7.99 and from how Rawlings described it, everything was the same from an ROMLB with the exception of the black print. This was supposed to be the less expensive version of the ROMLB to be used specifically for autographs since the leather was the same. It didn't really catch on and they stopped producing them. I believe Anaconda Sports was a major carrier of this product.
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04-17-2014, 05:01 AM #16
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- Jan 2014
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Re: Fake Rawlings Official Major League Baseball (ROMLB) ? ?
In response to Sportsnbikes' comment about replica early baseballs (early 1900s) - who is making these? Is there an easy way to tell them from a real antique baseball? It's great that they are listed now as replicas, but what about the next time? I like the old balls, but I don't buy them now because I don't know if they are real or not.
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04-18-2014, 02:16 AM #17
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Re: Fake Rawlings Official Major League Baseball (ROMLB) ? ?
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04-18-2014, 06:13 AM #18
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04-18-2014, 09:26 AM #19