TURRIALBA, COSTA RICA—Gliding through the sky as part of a time-honored excursion occurring every season, a home run ball hit out of Seattle’s Safeco Field completed a roughly 3,000-mile journey Friday to return to its birthplace at the Rawlings factory, sources confirmed. “Like scores of fellow baseballs, this home run ball has undertaken a long and arduous journey, leaving its comfortable dwelling in the Mariners’ ballpark to fly thousands of miles to the manufacturing plant in Costa Rica where it originated,” said Louisiana State University baseball migration expert Bill Hallerton, noting that the ball joined hundreds of others hit out of Busch Stadium, Progressive Field, and Comerica Park for the final 1,300-mile leg of its trek. “They all follow a familiar pattern every summer: departing their home stadiums, traversing the continental U.S., and then flying due south over the Gulf of Mexico. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it—no matter how far they have to travel, no matter how long and difficult their migration, the Rawlings baseballs always manage to find their way back home.” Hallerton added that upon reaching the grounds of the Rawlings factory, the ball quickly spawned thousands of new baseballs, the strongest of which will head north and arrive in time for the first day of spring training.