Spalding Baseball Stitching Clamp

This baseball stitching clamp was used in the production of Spalding baseballs. While this may seem like a crude device, it should be noted that all Major League baseballs today are still made by hand in much the same manner. The device would have been screwed and bolted to a work table or bench. The handle that reads "Spalding A1400" would be turned down to create tension to hold the baseball between the clamps to be stitched.

Two pieces of figure-eight-shaped cowhide is dampened to permit pliability and placed around a string wound core, then placed in the stitching clamp. The covers are stapled together to hold in place for stitching. The baseball is then hand-stitched together with 216 raised stitches. It takes about 13-14 minutes to hand sew a baseball.

A.G. Spalding Baseball Stitching Clamp

KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES RELATED RESOURCES

Official Major League Baseball Dating & Price Guide

	Official National League & American League Baseball Dating Guide - Spalding manufactured National League Baseballs, and Reach manufactured American League Baseballs, for about 100 years until Rawlings took over in 1977. Rawlings has been been making major league baseballs ever since.
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	References: Excerpt from Clark Griffith: Baseball's Statesman by Brian McKenna, and the 1943 Sporting News Baseball Guide & Recordbook.