re: Taking a ball out of play in MLB

One article says the average life of a ball may be as few as two pitches:

Link

"The expected life of a baseball's got to be really two pitches maybe, I'd think. Very rarely do you see one baseball used for an entire at-bat."




The life span of a baseball is indeed more than two pitches, though not by much. There are instances, like Friday's opening batter, when a ball does last just two pitches before ending up as a souvenir, safely in the hands of an excited fan. Then there are other times when a ball might last a few batters, such as it did Friday when Duensing recorded two ground ball outs with the same ball before it was finally fouled off.




That ball's total life span? Eight pitches, an eternity in this day and age for a baseball.