Rawlings 2010 Special Event Baseballs: Complete List Released
The lineup of 2010 Special Event Baseballs has been released, and aside from the annual All-Star Game quartet of balls and the World Series baseball, memorabilia collectors don’t have to worry about dropping too much coin to fill out their commemorative game ball lineups this year.
Rawlings 2007 Jackie Robinson Day Baseball
There are a few surprises for the 2010 MLB Baseball Season. The first being the Jackie Robinsion Day, April 15, 2010 commemorative ball, the fifth installment of its kind. The second is the 2010 Opening Day ball, which has become an annual special event ball produced by Rawlings and used by most teams to kickoff each season since 2004 – and a number of years before that.
So what’s the surprise about the 2010 Opener? Well, like the Jackie Robinson commemorative, these balls will be Ceremonial 1st Pitch baseballs – they won’t be used in the actual games. They’re still official MLB commemorative game balls, they’ll be on the field, albeit briefly. Fans just won’t be able to look forward to snagging a special game-used foul ball or home run ball on either day.
Including the two balls already released and covered in previous news posts on BigLeagueBaseballs.com – the 2010 MLB All-Star Game Baseball and the Twins Target Field Inaugural Season Baseball – there will be a total of eight commemorative baseballs used this year. They are the 2010 All-Star Futures Game, 2010 All-Star Game Home Run Derby, 2010 Home Run Derby Gold (Money) Ball, and the 2010 World Series Baseball. All of these will be used in the actual game or event for which they commemorate.
2010 Rawlings Official All-Star Game Bal
So why would Major League Baseball take the special events balls out of the game? One certainly has to suspect the financial implications of producing commemorative game balls for the big leagues. By making the Jackie Robinson Day and Opening Day balls “Ceremonial 1st Pitch” balls, they are still going to be collectors’ items, and still very worthwhile to memorabilia shops and online dealers of signed baseballs. But they’ll likely be produced in much lower quantities, and most will go straight into individual boxes for retail, as opposed to the egg crate style dozen boxes that get shipped out by the thousands to every MLB team.
It can be assumed that the potential profit margin will increase and the risk of Rawlings Sporting Goods losing money on special event baseballs will be much lower. This approach does enable the possibility to include special event baseballs that otherwise would have never been stitched, stamped and shipped to ballparks and sports dealers throughout the baseball-loving world.
Proposed artwork for the 2008 commemorative baseballs, which included a Jackie Robinson Day ball that was eventually scrapped.
In 2008, artwork was completed and plans were proposed for a Jackie Robinson Day ball to be used in the Majors, but the ball was never green-lit. Robinson Day baseballs had previously been used in 1997, (both the AL and NL) 2005 and 2007. Perhaps, had the 2008 baseball been considered for only the Ceremonial 1st Pitch and retail sales, it would have made the cut and been added to the Major League roster.
There will be those who consider such baseballs as glorified souvenirs; if they never get rubbed up with mud and pitched to batters during real, live Major League games, are they really considered game balls? That argument won’t prevent BigLeagueBaseballs.com from acquiring its fair share of the collectible balls. Count on us for a dozen of each, Mr. Rawlings!
So where is Major League Baseball coming up short for 2010? There are at least five opportunities for special event game balls that we feel deserve serious consideration. In our next blog post, we’ll discuss the commemorative game balls you’d see for 2010 if Big League Baseballs were in charge (and given an unlimited budget.)
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[...] recently obtained the complete list of Rawlings Special Event Baseballs planned for the upcoming 2010 Major League Baseball season. Eight commemorative game balls will be [...]