SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today’s Why Guy question is more of a “where” question, but we’ll take it. It comes from Harper Blankenship from Sacramento: "Hey, Mr. Why Guy. I have a great question for you. Where are baseballs made now?"
Official Major League baseballs are made by Rawlings Sporting Goods in Costa Rica and have been since 1987.
The labor is affordable, and the people of Costa Rica are said to take pride in making the official baseballs for MLB. It takes ten days to make one, to the tune of almost two million balls a year.
About 300 workers are employed at the Rawlings Sporting Goods baseball plant in the town of Turrialba, Costa Rica.
Before 1987, Major League baseballs were made in Haiti but political instability was given as the reason why the Rawlings Sporting Goods bailed from Haiti to Costa Rica.
However, baseballs for the Minor Leagues and 80% of all other baseballs come from China. So, unless you're a big leaguer, you're likely playing with a ball made in Dushan County, China.
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