Rawlings Sporting Goods of St. Louis, Missouri has been named the recipient of the 2009 Babe Ruth League, Inc. Special Programs Award. This award was created to honor corporate partners and associates of Babe Ruth League, Inc. who play a major role in creating special programs that not only grow the games of baseball and softball, but significantly improve the lives of today’s youth.
Rawlings is the exclusive supplier of tournament baseballs and softballs for Babe Ruth Baseball, Cal Ripken Baseball and Babe Ruth Softball. As well, Rawlings serves as the Official Helmet of Babe Ruth League, Inc.
As part of the partnership between Babe Ruth League, Inc. and Rawlings Sporting Goods, a “Try It and Buy It” Helmet Promotion was created where participants in the Babe Ruth program who try on or purchase a Rawlings helmet are eligible to win one of two grand prizes where they and a guest are provided with an opportunity to meet a Rawlings Major League Advisory Staff Member at a Major League ballpark.
Last year’s winners – Joey Buonemani of Adams, MA; and Jeremy Rinehart of Visalia, CA were treated to a “greet and meet” at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. Dreams really did come true for Joey and Jeremy, who took part in pre-game festivities at Citi-Field before the Mets Game, where they were able to spend time with several players from the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, and Arizona Diamondbacks.
In addition to the grand prize winners, 16 secondary winners were presented with a Rawlings glove, bat, equipment bag or Major League helmet.
Mike Thompson, Rawlings Vice President of Sports Marketing, said, “The goal of this promotion is to educate players, parents and coaching personnel on the importance of choosing a quality helmet. When choosing a helmet, a player’s safety and health should be the major deciding factors. We are proud to expand this program for 2010 to include helmets and bats.”
