That article makes me think the ball is real. We know they had Giamatti balls before the season started and Rawlings rushed to get NL teams White balls. So imagine they have cases of Giamatti balls in their storage. When the new White balls came in they get stacked on the cases of Giamatti balls. As the season goes on the White balls are depleted and the Giamatti balls are used before a new shipment arrives. That would explain why this ball would be used in July. It sounds reasonable to me. The guy in charge of getting balls out of storage probably doesn't care or even check whos name is on it.
|