Curious Louis answers: What happens to all those used baseballs at Busch Stadium?

[Sherman A1]

Editor's note: This story was originally published Aug. 22, 2018.

What happens to all those used baseballs the umpires toss out of games at Busch Stadium?

After Keith Duncan of St. Louis submitted that question to our Curious Louis feature, we went to the Aug. 16 game between the Cardinals and Washington Nationals to find out.

That’s where we found Ralph Toenjes hard at work, happily greeting fans at the Authentics Shop, located behind center field. Toenjes sells memorabilia, including used baseballs, fresh from the field. During games, it’s his job to fetch baseballs from the Cardinals dugout every two or three innings.

“That's really a cool part of my job,’’ Toenjes said. “I get to be right there where the players are in the dugout, and sometimes I have to wait for the inning to end, which means I'm right there by the action.’’

The playing career of a baseball is brief. A fair share end up in the stands. Umpires discard dozens of others after they’ve been dinged by a bat or bounced in the dirt. The Cardinals prepare 120 baseballs for every game. On an average game day, between 40 and 60 used baseballs will end up in the Authentics Shop.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/curious-louis-answers-what-happens-all-those-used-baseballs-busch-stadium

[Vdizzle]

1. I thought they would have...

...donated them to a local rec center little league or something.

[Sherman A1]

2. Nope

There is apparently far too much money to be made. I listened to this story and was shocked at the prices they were getting.

[Gore1FL]

3. They do a lot of community things.

I suspect baseball equipment is one. They probably buy lesser-cost little-league stuff and take advantage of the demand for game-used baseballs that people desire as souvenirs. Everybody wins.

[Brother Buzz]

4. I always assumed they were used in batting practice

Close to five-hundred balls are used in batting practice, and a ton are sent over the fence and into the stands so their ball bags always need to be refilled. To my astonishment, I learned they use NEW balls for batting practice! According to two former baseball player television announcers, some clubs actually billed their batters for the foul balls that were not retrieved ($5 a pop).