In baseball's early days, umpires were unpaid volunteers. They were often a spectator and, sometimes, a player, chosen by the home team with the consent of the rival team's captain. In 1878, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, organized two years earlier, mandated that home baseball teams pay umpires $5 per game.

Major league baseballs have a small cork wound with 316 yards of wool yarn. That is covered with two pieces of cowhide held together with 216 raised red cotton stitches.

The velocity of a pitched baseball is about 8 miles per hour faster as it leaves the pitcher's hand than when it reaches home plate.

Babe Ruth is given credit for the invention of the modern baseball bat. He was the first player to order a bat with a knob at the end of the handle. Louisville Slugger produced the bat with which he hit 29 home runs in 1919.

Major-league baseball clubs didn't start putting numbers on uniforms until the 1930s. As a result, Ty Cobb, who broke many batting and base-stealing records while playing with the Detroit Tigers (1905-1926), didn't have his uniform number retired. He was never issued a number.

Major league baseball bats are made of ash. Almost all are shorter than 36 inches and weigh 31 to 36 ounces. The barrel of many bats today is 2.5 inches in diameter. The barrel can be 2.75 inches in diameter.

A baseball scout found a remarkable prospect--a horse who was a pretty good fielder and who hit the ball every time he was up at bat. The scout got him a try-out with a big league team. Up at bat, the horse slammed the ball into far left field and stood at the plate, watching it go. "Run!" the manager screamed, "Run!" "Are you kidding?" answered the horse. "If I could run, I'd be in the Kentucky Derby."

"Did you hear the joke about the fast pitch?"

Never mind, you just missed it."

"Did you hear the joke about the pop fly?"

"Never mind. It's way over your head."

"Did you hear the joke about your pitching style?"

"Never mind. It's foul."

Jokes from the Little Giant Book of Jokes by Joseph Rosenbloom.

Find more baseball jokes here!