Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., Inc. is a leading supplier of baseball, basketball, and football equipment and team uniforms in North America and, through a licensee, of bas... Keep Reading

Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., Inc. is a leading supplier of baseball, basketball, and football equipment and team uniforms in North America and, through a licensee, of baseball equipment and uniforms in Japan. The company is publicly traded on the NSADAQ Exchange under the symbol RAWL. The company has revenues exceeding $147 million and employs more than 1,400 people.
The company was founded in 1887 by George and Alfred Rawlings, brothers who opened a small store in St. Louis. Its first catalogue characterized the company as "Dealers in Fishing Tackle, Guns, Baseball, Football, Golf, Polo, Tennis, Athletic and General Sporting Goods." The store soon went up in flames, so the Rawlings brothers got into manufacturing in 1898 in partnership with Charles W. Scudder, who put up the money.
Rawlings Manufacturing Co. introduced the first shoulder pads for football players in 1902, a fiber-and-felt model it named, for an executive, "Whitley's Armor Clothing." It designed the first all-weather football, began outfitting baseball's St. Louis Cardinals with team uniforms in 1906, and first provided baseballs to a professional league in 1907.
In 1957 the company introduced the prestigious Rawlings Golden Glove Award to recognize fielding excellence for the best major league baseball players at each position.
By 1990 Rawlings was one of only two companies manufacturing baseball gloves in the United States. Hides from steers raised in Missouri were taken to a Chicago leather company, where they were tanned and sorted. Each animal yielded two hides, one from each side, with each hide providing enough material for almost four gloves. From Chicago the hides were being shipped to a Rawlings plant in Ava, Missouri, where all of the company's professional baseball gloves, most of its baseball helmets, and most of its footballs were produced.
It is the goal of Rawlings to produce high quality, innovative products that enhance the performance of athletes around the world. Rawlings' "The Mark of the Pro" represents our commitment to customer satisfaction for all ages and levels of play.