What is a Yardball?

What a Yardball is

A Yardball is a handmade leather ball for playing catch — no glove, no bat.

It's a ball and a glove in one. Bigger than a baseball, smaller than a softball, softer than both. At 10 inches around and 4 ounces, it's heavy enough to throw like a baseball and light enough to catch with your bare hands. The outside is milled harness leather. The inside is wool and cotton. 108 stitches hold it together, all done by hand in Kansas City. That's the whole thing. A ball for the yard, the driveway, the tailgate, the dorm lawn — anywhere two people feel like having a catch.

Why we made one

Yardball started as a tape ball — the kind you wad up while you pull off the blue tape you just used to put on fresh coat of paint. It just so happened to be the perfect size and weight. So Chad Hickman & Thomas McIntyre built the real version: a ball made purely for catch, borrowing the parts of a baseball that make playing catch with one feel so good, and leaving the rest behind.

He launched it on Kickstarter in 2022. It found its people quickly — backers who understood the idea the minute they held one. Since then Yardball has grown into its own brand, hand-stitched in Kansas City out of a small workshop it shares with Sandlot Goods. Same hands, same city, same attention to how a piece of leather ought to feel.

A Yardball is about simplicity and slowing down. Every one is made by hand and has to pass a real quality check before it ships. We want you to put serious miles on it, so we build it to take them.

What it's made of

Milled harness leather on the outside. Wool and cotton on the inside. 108 stitches around the middle, sewn by hand.

The leather is the same kind of stuff a good baseball glove is made of — that's where the idea came from. Harness leather is built for work. Saddles, bridles, belts that last decades. It's dense, full of character, and it ages beautifully. That's the leather we wrap around every Yardball.

The wool and cotton core gives it weight and shape without the hard snap of a baseball. The hand stitching is what makes it a Yardball instead of a factory ball — you can see every stitch, and no two balls are identical.

Here's the part we like: a Yardball breaks in with use. The more you throw it, the better it gets. Like your favorite baseball glove, a well-used Yardball is the best Yardball. When it starts to look a little tired, hit it with some leather conditioner and keep throwing.

How it compares to a baseball and a softball

Yardball sits between a baseball and a softball in size, and below both in weight.

A baseball is built to be hit with a bat and caught in a glove. A softball is built the same way, just bigger and a little slower. A Yardball is built for the part of the game you actually do most — throwing the ball back and forth with someone. Nothing else.

Who it's for

A ball for all.

Adults who haven't played catch in a decade and forgot how much they liked it. Kids who already know how to throw. Teachers who want something their class can toss around without anyone getting beaned. Coworkers on a lunch break. The grown-up who still knows how to play, and the one who needs a reminder.

It works in the office — heavy enough to feel like something, soft enough not to dent the drywall. It works on the lawn at a tailgate. It works on a front porch at the end of the day. Anywhere two people can stand twenty feet apart, a Yardball works.

How to break one in

You don't. It's ready from the first throw.

Some leather goods need a break-in ritual — oiling, conditioning, wearing them stiff for a month until they soften up. A Yardball doesn't. Throw it, and it gets better. The leather darkens where your hand grips it. The seams settle. After a summer it'll have a color and a feel that belong to you.

No special care required. If it gets wet, let it air-dry away from heat. If it gets dirty, wipe it down. Otherwise just keep throwing it. That's the break-in.

Frequently asked questions