MLB jerseys will be used to make masks, hospital gowns for healthcare workers
(MLB)
EASTON, Penn. - The same fabric used for MLB baseball jerseys will be used for something entirely different.
Fanatics, the company behind those jerseys and hats, started making hospital gowns to support the emergency personnel fighting COVID-19 and caring for patients.
According to the MLB, the league and Fanatics are absorbing all the costs to make it.
“We hope this effort can play a part in coming together as a community to help us through this challenging situation,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
Fanatics stopped all jersey assembly at its 360,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Easton, Pennsylvania. Instead, the facility will be used to create up to 1 million masks and gowns "with plans to produce these items as long as the need exists."
They've started distributing the products in Pennsylvania, but will also send them over to New Jersey and New York. For now, the initialy masks and gowns will be made out of the jerseys for the Phillies and Yankees teams. As distribution expands, the MLB said other team jersey materials will be used.
“The COVID-19 crisis has compelled our country to be more collaborative, innovative and strategic than ever before,” Fanatics executive chairman Michael Rubin said. “As the demand for masks and gowns has surged, we’re fortunate to have teamed up with Major League Baseball to find a unique way to support our frontline workers in this fight to stem the virus, who are in dire need of essential resources.”