Baseball: Made
In Costa Rica
Baseball is said
to be America's
favourite past
time. And for
Major League
Baseball (MLB)
it all starts in
Costa Rica, for
that is where
the balls used
in the game are
made, for every
baseball comes
with a Rawlings
logo, the
official maker
of MLB baseballs
in a plant
located in
Turrialba, a 90
minute ride from
San José.
It is at the
Turrialba plant
that the pink-coloured
combinations of
rubber and cork
are transformed
into the
red-stitched
leather balls in
all major league
parks.
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Rawlings
set up
shop in
Costa
Rica in
1987
when
political
strife
in Haiti
prompted
the
company
to
consider
relocating.
Rawlings
shopped
around,
choosing
Costa
Rica, at
a time
when
Oscar
Arias
who was
then in
his
first
term as
president
and just
having
received
the
Nobel
Peace
Prize.
The
company,
in
making
its
choice,
saw that
Costa
Rica had
a
committed
workforce
and a
growing
economy.
Although
it is
hard to
find a
baseball
field or
a game
outside
of the
Sabana
park in
San
José,
Costa
Ricans
have
embraced
the
creation
of the
baseball,
which is
are used
miles
away and
many
countries
in
between. |
Each weekday
some 700
employees at the
Rawlings plant
create the
balls, as well
as other
Rawlings
apparel. Some
employees have
been at the
plant for 20
years or more.
The Rawling
Turrialba plant
produces some
50.000 baseballs
weekly, each
person averaging
150 balls a week
or 30 per day.
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