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Costa Rica has yet to produce a player in the major leagues, however, this country sandwiched between Panama and Nicaragua (both of which have native born players in the pro ranks) currently benefits the game more than any other country.
Turns out all the baseballs that become someone’s souvenir or a player’s homerun ball get their start in Costa Rica. Rawlings began making baseballs in Costa Rica in 1988 and after fully transitioning operations out of Haiti has produced all of MLB’s baseballs in Costa Rica since 1990. All balls are stitched by hand and more than two million are made yearly.
(Yes, I am aware of the past controversy surrounding the Rawlings factory in Costa Rica and the low wages paid as well as the alleged poor working conditions, all of which were documented in a report given to MLB in 2004. My intention of this specific article is not to delve into this issue.)
On a past visit to Costa Rica I made plans to visit the factory, which is located in the city of Turrialba in the province of Cartago. However, after learning the factory offered no public tours and, at the time, the road to Turrialba remained in disarray from a previous 6.1 earthquake, I decided not to spend the time trying to get there and instead look for baseball fields or any sign of America’s past time in this soccer dominated country.
There weren’t many. In fact, I found only one baseball field.
High in the hills of Heredia (one of seven provinces) I was able to look out over the country’s capital city of San Jose. I could see no less than half a dozen lights, in sets of three, scattered throughout the land. I quickly learned they were stadium lights, but not for baseball. Indeed, soccer was quite active that Saturday evening.
Ironically, the only baseball field I saw was quite literally a stone’s throw away from where my in-laws lived. Indeed, baseball was alive, but I’m not sure how well, in Santo Domingo de Heredia where players as young as four, who participate in a t-ball league, and as old as 18 could play during the country’s dry season which typically runs from December to April.
This lone baseball field had functioning lights, was intact and very much in shape, and resembled your local little league field here in the states. Seating was minimal and the grandstands, if you will, consisted of one long cement seat that extended from first base to the outfield. There was no seating along the third base side and outfield seating was non-existent. A scorer’s box sat just behind home plate. And the dugouts were about half the length of what sits in your typical ball field in the United States.
During a visit to the local high school track - located right next to the baseball field while encircling a rather tattered but used soccer field where locals walked, ran and even rode bikes around it - the lights slowly glimmered on and the field was soon taken over… by baseball players! A variety of ages were represented as youngsters practiced running drills in the outfield and the older kids began tossing around baseballs in what appeared to be warm-ups before a game.
There was a sense of “home” in being able to see something so familiar in a country so far from the Unites States. But I was surprised to learn that despite all of the other players from Latin America to make it to the big leagues, Costa Rica, which is quite developed when compared to Nicaragua, Honduras and even Venezuela, has none. And while I know I can shell out $20 to buy an official Major League ball at my local Target I did want to buy a Costa Rican made baseball in Costa Rica.
No such luck.
I tried the sports section of Hiper Max, which I slowly saw being transitioned into a Wal-Mart, and not only were there no baseballs, I couldn’t even find a mitt. Plenty of soccer balls, even tennis rackets, but no Costa Rican made baseballs.
Just as with other countries, I am sure it is a matter of time before a Costa Rican makes its mark in Major League Baseball but until then this country owns the birthrights for every record-making ball for nearly the last 30 years.
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