In Major League Baseball, new baseballs are rubbed with a special river mud to remove their slick shine. Coach Lena Blackburne found it in a Delaware River tributary in the 1930s, and his company still harvests and sells it.
Dizzy Dean, a National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee who retired at 31, became a commentator known for relentlessly criticizing players. His team eventually put him on the mound to prove his words. At 37, six years after retirement, Dean pitched four scoreless innings.