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, Wisconsin, and Decorah, Iowa, 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, which are awarded to the best fielders in Major League Baseball, from a family-owned fabrication shop in Illinois that’s no longer in business.

According to assistant plant manager Caleb Konen, the process starts “a couple of months” before the awards are announced. 

Near the end of the MLB season, a league representative contacts the factory to tell them the names of the winners. At that point, most of the work on the awards is already done.

After they receive the names, the custom components are made and assembled, including UV-printed face silhouettes on clear acrylic plates and brass name plates.

The 30-pound, casted cultured marble awards are then packed in individualized boxes along with a custom rigid foam piece and an expanding foam pack to make sure the gloves are snug enough to survive a trip across country. Most of the weight comes from the base and a component that’s hidden behind the black leather.

And it all starts in Caledonia.