Pretty much! Here's a video of it in action (and the mud collection): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flrWvnhPmng

Yet they don't sell these treated balls by default en-mass. Kids don't grow up playing with a proper baseball.

Seems kinda sad, it'd be cool if the MLB kept it real by diverting a small amount of profit to make sure public schools had legit baseballs to train the next generation with.

They could market the fuck out of this, too. Why aren't these MLB exdecs a tad more creative?

iirc the location of the mud is secret, and there is some question of legality due to it not being private land(?). it may be difficult to source a vast quantity of magic mud for public sale/charity/marketing.

I imagine suitable alternative mud can be sourced, nothing in the state of Pennsylvania is that special, especially for slathering a baseball.

Such claims with zero scientific evidence do add a dimension of mystique and lore, which may draw some folks in.

They don't sell treated balls, no. Not to the MLB or to anyone else. The mud folks are not in the business of performing ball treatments; they are instead in the business of selling mud.

As I understand it, in professional baseball, it is the job of the umpires to this use mud to take the sheen off of new balls, pre-game.

The mud itself is for sale, and has been for a very long time: https://www.baseballrubbingmud.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Sc...

There is nothing here to be sad or outraged about. There is no scarcity or exclusivity here.

Nothing but a small amount of money and mutual agreement on a procedural change prevents anyone from getting some of this same mud from the same source and having their own umpires in their own [kid or adult] league do the same thing for new baseballs.

Or: There is nothing that prevents a person from buying some of this mud and using it to pre-process baseballs, and -- as you say -- marketing the fuck out of it.

And that section of the Delaware River is not known for its water quality.

Well, technically it is, it's just not good water quality!

Breaking in balls for professional sports is a whole thing.

Brand new equipment out of the box sucks, but if you let equipment managers bring out old balls than there is going to be wild variations between every different ball used. So having a consistent break-in process is pretty important.

You should see the kind of shenanigans they do in the football world: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4136154/2023/01/31/nfl-kick...