Dallas Keuchel’s girlfriend Mackenzie Valk works for a business called Golden Sport Collectibles that specializes in 24 karat gold baseballs that are usually signed by well-known baseball players. Gold Sport is an Official Rawlings licensee, which is privately owned, and Valk is a Sales Manager for the brand.
Mackenzie herself released a short video promoting one of the baseballs signed by Christian Yelich. Dallas Keuchel’s girlfriend appears to be as sweet as can be and says something to the effect of “If you like gold baseballs follow Golden Sport Collectibles, and if you like blondes who like baseball, follow me.” In this day of social media marketing, I guess you’ve gotta’ put a little pep into your Twitter spots.
So, here’s where this post gets interesting.
One of the most interesting things she posted was a picture of long panels of what appears to be strips of leather that have been painted gold. In the original version of this post, we asked a few questions about how this all works. Luckily for us, we can get those questions answered directly from the source. Dallas Keuchel’s girlfriend was way cool in filling us in on how the gold baseballs work.
We utilize a unique nanotechnology which allows 24kt gold to be broken down into tiny nanoparticles and ingrained into leather. Unlike gold plating or gold foil, our treatment does not alter the natural texture of the leather. Our gold hides are then shipped down to the Rawlings factory in Costa Rica where they are hand stitched into Official Major League baseballs.
And in response to our questions about what if you need the gold back one day? How do you get it off of your goofy collectible baseball so that you can barter for food? Well, Mackenzie was quick to fill us in.
The gold may be reclaimed from the leather by visiting a refinery, no need use the “goofy collectible baseball to barter for food.”
OK, we’re done trying to be adorable.
Mackenzie Valk lives and works in New York City, but understandably spends a lot of time in Houston. Our initial post questioned if it’s not a drag for some women to have to go to the games when their boyfriend is a pitcher and doesn’t play most of the time. Obviously, I get that she’s a fan, but that’s a massive time commitment if you’re hitting up most of the home games. Valk wrapped up her email by letting us know,
Starting pitchers typically pitch every 5 games. For the record, it is not a “drag” to watch games Dallas isn’t pitching. The Astros are having an amazing season and we hope to keep that momentum going into the playoffs. Although #60 is always my #1, I also fully support and cheer on the rest of the team.
Worth nothing this exchange took place in 2015. So, I can only imagine things got more fun in 2017 and beyond. World Series will do that to ya! Thanks for the details, Mackenzie. Color us Keuchel fans because of you.
