Vol. VIII, No. 3 - San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, September 4,  2002

End to Baseball’s Strike Talk Keeps Rawlings Alive at the Plate
Baseball may never become a popular sport in Costa Rica, but for the 900 Ticos working in Turrialba’s Rawlings baseball plant – where they labor to hand-sew every baseball used in U.S. Major Leagues (MLB) – the “Great American Pastime” has become their livelihood. But, the risk of selling to only one market is always the same: Whom do you sell to if you buyer no longer needs baseballs?
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Court Ratifies Extradition
of Internet Scamsters
A local court ratified the extradition of accused Internet con-artists Canadian Alyn Richard Waage and U.S.-citizen Michael Webb. Both men will be extradited to the US to go before the California East District Court on charges of orchestrating an Internet fraud scheme that allegedly stole $795,000 from 95 people, reported the daily La Nación.
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Government Proposes Emergency
Taxes To Solve Fiscal Crunch
The Executive Branch will send an emergency tax bill to Congress aimed at relieving this year’s fiscal deficit in the coming days.Among the emergency measures included in the bill will be an increase in the income tax for businesses (from 30 percent to 40 percent), a new tax on labor corporations, a cellular telephone tax, and possibly a one or two percent increase to the sales tax, which is currently at 13 percent, reported the daily La Nación.
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End to Baseball’s Strike Talk
Keeps Rawlings Alive at the Plate
By Tim Rogers
Tico Times Staff

Baseball may never become a popular sport in Costa Rica, but for the 900 Ticos working in Turrialba’s Rawlings baseball plant – where they labor to hand-sew every baseball used in U.S. Major Leagues (MLB) – the “Great American Pastime” has become their livelihood.

Although it would probably take all of the plant’s employees years of work to make the same amount of money Texas Rangers’ shortstop Alex Rodríguez makes during a doubleheader, if it weren’t for the Ticos making the balls, the superstars of baseball would have nothing to smack out of the park.

But, the risk of selling to only one market is always the same: Whom do you sell to if you buyer no longer needs baseballs?

Whether Costa Ricans realize it or not, this hypothetical situation almost became a reality last week, when money disputes between MLB team owners and players almost ended in a work stoppage.

The prospect of a prolonged strike – which Rodríguez would measure as a loss in the tens of millions – would have been equally difficult on Rawlings, and potentially disastrous for the plant workers. 

The 1994 – 1995 baseball strike, which also resulted from a player-owner dispute – lasted 232-days.  Considering some 900,000 baseballs are used during MLB’s 162-game season, a massive work stoppage would have left the company with no real market to sell its balls.

The baseball plant here makes more than 12,000 balls a day under very strict weight and size specifications. The balls are then shipped up to St. Louis for quality control, before being distributed to the parks and thrown into play.

The Tico Times in recent weeks has made numerous attempts to talk to the Rawlings plant management, both during and after the strike talks. But the baseball people have kept their lips sewn tighter than the 108 stitches that go into every Tico-made baseball.      

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Court Ratifies Extradition
of Internet Scamsters

A local court ratified the extradition of accused Internet con-artists Canadian Alyn Richard Waage and U.S.-citizen Michael Webb. 

Both men will be extradited to the US to go before the California East District Court on charges of orchestrating an Internet fraud scheme that allegedly stole $795,000 from 95 people, reported the daily La Nación. 

Waage and Webb were arrested last September after the government received an extradition request from the U.S. The suspects allegedly organized a complex scheme that used a Web site to attract North American investors promising high-yield, low-risk investment opportunities. 

According to police reports, the company at one time handled over $3 million, most of which was used to purchase land in Costa Rica and Mexico. Upon searching their properties, police found multiple assets including a yacht, a helicopter, 16 cars, two motorcycles, jewels, and $243,000 in cash.

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