According to Business Insider’s Bradford Williams Davis the MLB used two different baseballs during the 2021 season.

The league then confirmed this report issuing the following statement:

“Rawlings manufactures Major League balls on a rolling basis at its factory in Costa Rica.  Generally, balls are produced 6-12 months prior to being used in a game,” the league said in its statement.  “Because Rawlings was forced to reduce capacity at its manufacturing facility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply of re-centered baseballs was not sufficient to cover the entirety of the 2021 season.  To address this issue, Rawlings incorporated excess inventory into its shipments to Clubs to provide a full complement of baseballs for the 2021 season.”

The MLB justifies the use of two balls thanks to supply chain issues and the fact that Rawlings was forced to reduce capacity at its manufacturing facility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When pushed about the potential view that the integrity of the game had been compromised, the MLB responded with a final statement.

“Every baseball used in a 2021 MLB game, without exception, met existing specifications and performed as expected,” said the league in its statement.  As well, all of the baseballs used in 2021 fell within the standard weight of 5 to 5.5 ounces.

Ok, so the MLB doesn’t think much of a half ounce weight difference but my weed dealer certainly isn’t playing around when it comes to the scale. Also, it terms of sports betting, it would have been nice to know what balls were being used in each game. Someone owes me money and it’s certainly not my weed dealer.

Truly horrifying for Major League Baseball to scoff at the notion that a half ounce variance in baseballs would produce different results.

This explains everything you needed to know about the 2021 Phillies. A 93 win team destined to reach the post season for the first time in a decade thwarted by a conspiracy to funnel different balls to different teams.

I think we can all come together as Phillies fans at this moment and officially announce that much like the Covid shortened 2020 season, 2021 also does not count.

As for Major League Baseball as a whole, we are roughly 10 hours away from the expiration of the CBA and an impending lockout. I’m sure the two balls story will help smooth things over, right?