Seconds after Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant tossed the ball to first base — donning a huge grin on his face — to make the final out of the 2016 World Series, factory workers started heat-sealing embroidered Cubs' logo patches onto championship baseball hats, reported Bloomberg.
After the Cubs reached the National League Championship Series last year, New Era — the company responsible for all of Major League Baseball's official headwear — realized it could not meet the demand associated with a World Series win for the Cubs, so the company altered its manufacturing processes to maximize inventory.
"We started to realize if they won the World Series, we might not be able to handle the volume," said Tony DeSimone, New Era's category director for Major League Baseball. "We spent the next year planning and prioritizing, getting ready for a Cubs championship."
As the Cubs put on the new championship caps to celebrate their win over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night, New Era raced to supply thousands more of the hats to stores all over the world, according to the report.
New Era's Harrisburg, Pa.-based distribution center was staffed at full capacity Wednesday night to finish the hats and workers started delivering them to retailers early Thursday morning. New Era will continue to resupply stores with new shipments throughout the next few days, according to the report.
In the next few weeks, New Era expects to sell three times more Cubs hats than the average World Series winner cap, according to Bloomberg.
"It'll be a record-breaking postseason for us," said Mr. DeSimone.
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