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• Western Athletic Supply

George and Jack Lenertz ran a local hardware store on the corner of Pontiac and Mission Blvd. in Rubidoux and in 1983 they came to my dad to see if we could put together a mail-order baseball equipment catalog for them. We took on the challenge and from 1983 until they declared bankruptcy in 2007 we designed, photographed, edited, and published the Western Athletic baseball catalog. At one time they were the biggest distributor of baseball equipment in America. Then Rawlings sued them, came up with MAP (Manufacturers Authorized Pricing), meaning Western Athletic, sold in quantity with very low margins, could no longer sell Rawlings product for less than what the manufacturer authorized, which was the beginning of their demise. Once again a big corporation crushes the little guys when they get too big.