Did you see the little white bag pitchers in MLB smack against their hands before a big pitch? That’s the rosin bag. The only legal sticky stuff allowed in Major League Baseball. And whether you believe it or not, every single one of them comes from a small workshop in the Bay Area—run by one guy.
The man in question—Dave Phillips’.
By now, you might picture Phillips to be someone with a deep baseball background. Maybe a former player, a coach, a scientist, or something. But nope. His journey to becoming MLB’s official rosin bag supplier started through screen printing!
The story of it all began in 2013 when Dave Phillips was selling t-shirts featuring old minor league baseball teams. And he was all in on it until he had a problem. Ebbets Field Flannels said he didn’t have the right to use those logos that Phillips was using. But he was resilient, and as the saying goes—where there is a will, there is a way.
So, instead of getting discouraged, Phillips got creative. He started designing shorts for fictional baseball teams instead. One of them was the San Francisco Pelicans. Except wait…they weren’t fictional.
A group of vintage baseball players from the Bay Area Vintage Baseball League happened to see Phillips’ design and reached out. Turns out they are the real San Francisco Pelicans. They were playing old-school baseball as it was in the 1800s. Like everything from wool uniforms, gardener gloves, and umpires wearing tuxedos.
And they invited Phillips, who showed up in a casual meet. But he found himself in a complete time warp and loved it. So later he didn’t just watch; he was also thinking of something more—baseball gear. And that’s when the idea struck him—if he wanted to make something practical, creating the best grip enhancers in the game would be the best way forward.
And that’s what he did.
Dave Phillips’ journey to become MLB’s rosin bag king
So, Phillips started with his job at hand. He started small, making pine tar sticks, grip dips, and rosin bats for his vintage baseball buddies. But then, in 2015, he decided to take a plunge and take a shot in the big league. And he mailed his sample to every MLB team.
At first, nothing much really happened. But one big name took notice of him, and that was Pablo Sandoval. He had left San Francisco to join the Boston Red Sox, and he took Phillips’ grip enhancer with him. Then the word started spreading in the clubhouse like wildfire.
But then a hard time came when MLB cracked down on illegal sticky substances, and one of them was Phillips’ homemade GripDip.
But even then, Phillips found a way out—why not offer MLB an official rosin bag? That way, the item can be standardized and league-approved. He didn’t waste any more time and got in touch with MLB executives, pitched his idea, and worked with the league over the year to develop a rosin bag that could be used everywhere.
In 2022, just one day after MLB finalized its new labor agreement, Phillips got the much-awaited call. “How would you like to be the official manufacturer of rosin bags for MLB?” And it was game on!
Philips quit his bartending job right then. He went from being a guy who sold fictional baseball team shirts to supplying MLB teams with rosin bags. His side hustle company, Pelican Bat Wax, became a legit one. And suddenly he had 5,000 rosin bags he had to deliver. Now every pitcher reaches out for that little bag – they are using one made by Phillips.
But here is the best part of all—the man never left his vintage baseball roots behind. He captained the Berkeley Clarions, who pulled an iconic comeback last season. They rallied back to beat…take a guess… the San Francisco Pelicans!
What a full-circle moment for Phillips, isn’t it? He sure did show that never giving up is the key to success.
The post From Screenprinter to MLB’s Rosin Bag King: How a Bay Area Man Became Baseball’s Exclusive Supplier? appeared first on EssentiallySports.
