Fanatics is making masks instead of MLB jerseys to fight Coronavirus

With the Major League Baseball season suspended due to Covid-19, resources that would normally be reserved for making jerseys will instead go toward masks and gowns for healthcare workers.

Fanatics, the company that manufactures MLB jerseys for Nike, has temporarily converted its 360,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Easton, Pennsylvania, to create up to 1 million masks and gowns, per MLB.

According to Fanatics executive director Michael Rubin, the company has halted production of jerseys entirely, instead re-focusing a staff of 100 social-distanced employees on making masks and gowns from jersey materials. They will be donated to hospitals and emergency management personnel in Pennsylvania with plans to expand to the New York City region, which has become the epicenter of the outbreak.

MLB jerseys are made with polyester, which could retain germs for a longer period of time compared to cotton. But the jersey-made equipment could still help prevent the spread of Covid-19 by way of coughing, spitting or sneezing. Some form of prevention is better than none as healthcare workers are already struggling with a lack of resources amid the outbreak and are being told to reuse masks.Los Angeles Dodgers Face Coverings

Otis Nixon, Twins, 1998: Nixon played for 10 teams over 17 years, including a one-season stopover in Minnesota, where he wore an unusual mask that was sort of football-based, but there was more to it than that. He is, to Uni Watch's knowledge, the last MLB player to wear anything approaching a football-style mask on the field.

How to Avoid Foggy Glasses When Wearing a Face Mask

Why do your glasses fog up when you’re wearing a face mask?
British optometrists Margrain and Owen described the mechanism that causes glasses to mist up. Glass or plastic lenses will usually attain a temperature that’s close to that of their environment. When you are in a cool place and exhale into your mask, the mask blocks and re-directs some of your breath up toward the top edge of the mask and under your glasses. the warm moist air of your breath reaches the lens surface. When the warm breath hits the cool lens, the water in the breath condenses causing your lenses to fog up.

The problem with having foggy lenses, apart from being just plain annoying, is that you’ll want to grab your eyeglasses to either wipe them off or lift them temporarily away from your face to allow them to de-fog before re-applying them. And this breaks the cardinal rule of preventing the spread of Covid-19, namely “Don’t touch your face.”

How to stop glasses from fogging up when wearing a face mask?
For all you eyeglass wearers who’ve been struggling to read your grocery list under a constant fog or panicking when you find yourself adjusting your eyeglasses in the supermarket, here are a few tips from medical providers for avoiding foggy glasses while wearing a face mask that won’t harm your glasses.

The Rub-a-Dub-Dub: According to an article published in the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, a simple method to prevent eyeglass fogging while wearing a mask is to wash your glasses with soapy water, shake off the excess and let the lenses air dry. By not rinsing or toweling off the glasses, you leave a fine soap film on the lenses that reduces the surface tension and causes the water molecules to spread out in an even transparent layer that prevents the glasses from fogging up. In fact, the anti-fogging drops used for scuba masks and ski goggles work exactly this way.

The Tissue Trap: Another trick you can use to prevent your breath from fogging up your glasses is to place a folded tissue between your mouth and the mask. This will absorb the moist warm air before it can reach the top of your mask and get under your glasses. Just remember to tie your mask snugly so that the tissue won’t fall out of the bottom.MLB Face Coverings Online Sale

MLB, Fanatics to manufacture masks and gowns using jersey material

Major League Baseball (MLB) and Fanatics are partnering to manufacture hospital gowns and protective masks with the same fabric used to produce jerseys to bolster the supply needed to fight the coronavirus, the two businesses announced Thursday.

Fanatics, the company that makes MLB jerseys, is converting its manufacturing center in Easton, Pa., to a production center for the personal protective gear hospital workers have been clamoring for as the virus spreads. MLB and Fanatics will cover all costs associated with the endeavor, they said.

“We hope this effort can play a part in coming together as a community to help us through this challenging situation,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.

Fanatics will produce up to 1 million masks and gowns and distribute them throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, the latter of which has been the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S.

The company is making its first batch of masks and gowns using materials typically used to make jerseys for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees. Other team jersey materials will be featured as production expands.Tampa Bay Rays Face Coverings

Most other players who've added extra facial protection to their helmets have worn the basic (and rather boring-looking) plastic attachments we're now used to seeing. A partial list of such players includes Marlon Byrd, Mike Devereaux, Chase Headley, Jason Heyward, David Justice, Terrence Long, Kevin Seitzer and Terry Steinbach, among many others.