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MLB Uniform Makers Go to Bat for American Healthcare Workers During Coronavirus Pandemic

While Major League Baseball may still be several months away from starting, we know who we’re rooting for right now.

Perhaps the simplest way to explain the duties that we have all assumed during this time of global pandemic is as such:

Healthcare workers on the front line are there to treat those who test positive for the deadly and highly contagious virus.  They need masks, gloves, ventilators, sanitizer…you name it, they need it.

Our job as Americans is to buy these essential workers some time.  Not only will our hospitals be working at or over capacity in the coming days, but the aforementioned supplies are becoming harder and harder to come by as more Americans come down ties COVID-19.

This is where one of the MLB’s most important vendors is stepping up to the plate.

Fanatics, the company that manufactures uniforms for Major League Baseball, has suspended production on jerseys and is instead using the polyester mesh fabric to make masks and gowns for hospitals in Pennsylvania and nearby states.

New York Yankees and Phillies pinstripes were still in vogue on baseball’s scheduled opening day — only stitched on the protective wear made by the apparel company.

Michael Rubin, the founder and executive chairman of Fanatics, was watching TV last week when he was struck by the idea to turn the 360,000-square foot facility in Easton, Pennsylvania, into a factory for the COVID-19 virus fight.

While Rubin considered how he could make it happen, St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem reached out to Fanatics late last week about the possibility of the company manufacturing masks. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro each contacted Rubin over the weekend and told Rubin the state was in “dire need” of more masks and gowns.

Fanatics developed a prototype that was approved by the state’s emergency agency and by Tuesday the company halted production of all baseball jerseys.

While Major League Baseball may still be several months away from starting, we know who we’re rooting for right now.

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