BIG LEAGUE BASEBALLS

Rawlings 2011 Official MLB All-Star Baseball (Arizona) Already Released

By BLB Admin on November 25th, 2010

On this Thanksgiving Day, we at BigLeagueBaseballs.com would like to give thanks to the fine folks at Rawlings Sporting Goods and Major League Baseball, for the release of the 2011 All-Star Game Baseball. We didn’t expect to see this one for at least another two to three months. It’s by far the earliest release we’ve seen for any special event, commemorative ball. Here it is, your official game ball to be used in the 2011 All-Star Game, hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix Arizona:

The Official Rawlings 2011 All-Star Game Ball, to be used in Arizona

Initial reactions: We’re thankful to see something unique, something that hasn’t been done before, which this ball offers – red and tan stitching with black stamping. Although, if you’re an avid fan of Big Leauge Baseballs, and have visited The Museum more often than you care to admit, you’ll likely notice what we did when we first received these balls: We’ve seen this fish before. It’s the exact same as the 2004 All-Star Game Prototype Ball pictured here. But the actual approved 2004 All-Star ball had red ink as opposed to the black seen on the prototype, and on this new 2011 baseball, so this shall be considered a first for an official game ball.

Our real disappointment, if we must criticize anything, is the choice of tan lace over black. We are not very thankful for this. This event provided was the first opportunity for Major League Baseball to bring back red and black stitching to an official game ball. That hasn’t been done since 1933, it’s believed, the final year the National League used this pattern on its game balls before both the AL and NL switched to all red laces. Why didn’t MLB take advantage of this opportunity? We have no idea, but we’ll try to track down some answers.

So, it’s still only the second time red and tan laces were used on a ball – or should we say “Sedona red and Sonoran sand,” officially the colors of the Arizona Diamondbacks, along with black. The combination is great in my opinion; the 2004 ball is a personal favorite, and although a bit better than this ball in my opinion, I’m happy with it.

2011 MLB All-Star Game Logo

It should also be noted, since over-analyzing these game balls is a Big League Baseballs tradition, that this is the first time MLB used black ink on a game ball since the 2007 All-Star Game (San Fransisco Giants hosted). It’s only the fifth ball in this century to use black ink (2007 AS, 2006 AS, 2003 AS, 2001 Ripken Final Game).

The are some other interesting details to point out. First, the logo is pretty sharp in color, as you can see above. But it doesn’t seem to have translated as well when stamped on the ball. It’s hard to tell those are the mountains in the background, for one thing. Another detail to note on the logo, the subtle salute to the Diamondbacks namesake and alternate logos – the fangs of the rattle snake are replicated by the first “A” and the “M” in “All-Star Game.” Awesome little detail!

We’re not sure when these baseballs will become widely available for retail. For the last few years, All-Star Game balls were released in early spring, usually in March or a bit later. We were able to pick up a few of these, but we have not yet seen them on the popular retail sites. If you’d like to find out how we obtained this ball so early or buy one for yourself, check on our forum – tip of the cap to forum member polarsbb for the heads-up. We may also list a few in the Big League Baseballs’ Shoppe in the near future.