Reading Phillies v Trenton Thunder, July 23, 1997 Waterfront Park, SRO
They were SRO tickets so it must have been a good crowd.
You'd think with 2 rosters of future Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox that someone decent would have played in this game. Not so. Sure, Lou Merloni, Marlon Anderson were on their respective rosters that year.
Little known fact: The mud used to rub Major League baseballs by umpires prior to each game is dredged out of a creek near Trenton, New Jersey.
For decades new baseballs are rubbed to remove the sheen, making them easier to see.
In 1938 an umpire complained to third base coach for the Philadelphia Athletics that the balls rubbed with mud from the playing field were in a sorry condition. The coach went on a mission the next time he went to his home in Burlington County, New Jersey to find some decent mud.
He brought some mud back to Shibe Park and it worked like a charm. So much so that every American League team began using the mud Lena Blackburn provided. By the time of his death in the 1950's every American and National League team were using this mud.
The wereabouts of where the mud is still dredged remains a mystery. But it is thought to be from the Rancocas Creek running near Blackburn's old home in Willingboro, NJ.
The next time you hear of "Mississippi Mud" you will know it comes from New Jersey.
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