A Small Minnesota Factory Plays a Big Role in Major League Baseball

In the middle of last summer, when most baseball fans were enjoying a hot dog and a beer and dreaming of October, the machines in a plant in Caledonia whirred to life. The journey of the Gold Glove awards, which were awarded on Sunday, Nov. 1 in a ceremony that featured zero Minnesota Twins, had begun.  While you may not have heard of the Miken Sports facility on Bissen Street, you’ve probably seen their work. The plant, located in a town of 2,847 people tucked into the state’s southeastern corner at the midway points between La Crosse, WI and Decorah, IA, is where every helmet used in an MLB game is made. They serve as the epicenter of Rawlings’ slowpitch softball division, and also make the top-selling batting tee on the market, the Tanner Tee.  Two years ago, the Rawlings-owned plant took over the manufacturing of the Gold Glove awards that are awarded to the best fielders in Major League Baseball from a family-owned fabrication shop in Illinois that’s no longer in business. Accord