Costa Rica
Is An Important Part of World Series Baseball
World Series baseball series began Wednesday
night between the Philadelphia Phillies and
the New York Yankees, with the Phillies
leading the series 1-0. This is the 105th
edition of of Major League Baseball's
championship series and Costa Rica is right
there in the middle of it all.
Let us explain. Although baseball is as
American as apple pie, the balls used in the
games are not.
Those hand stitched, cowhide spheres used in
the great American pastime is not made in
the US of A, but rather in the small country
of Costa Rica, by the Rawlings Sporting
Goods company at its Turrialba factory.
Rawlings has had the exclusive contract to
supply Major League Baseball with balls
since 1977.
The balls being used in the World Series are
Rawlings of Costa Rica, SA, a Costa Rican
company and 600 Costa Rican workers, who
also manufacture sports apparel and other
equipment.
The sewers at the Turrialba factory stitch
the balls, that cover the balls' core parts
made of rubber and cork. All the balls
produced at the Turrialba factory are made
by hand.
The Turrialba 54,000 square foot factory
produces about 2.2 million balls a year, of
which 1.8 million are used by Major League
Baseball.
A baseball features a rubber or cork center,
wrapped in yarn and covered in leather. It
is 9.25 inches in circumference. The yarn or
string used to wrap the baseball can be up
to one mile in length.
Several dozen baseballs are used in a
typical baseball game, due to scratches,
discoloration, and undesirable texture that
can occur during the game. Every team in
Major League Baseball uses Baseball Rubbing
Mud to rub their balls in before their
pitchers use them in games.
So, tonight, we you sit back to watch game 2
between the Phillies and Yankees, just think
that a little of "pura vida" is in the ball
park
Workers at the Rawlings factory in
Turrialba produce about 2.2 million
baseballs a year. |
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The baseballs use is Major League Baseball are made in Costa Rica. The balls sell for about $15 each and cost less than $1 to produce.
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