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Bookending our recent trip to Louisville were two fun baseball experiences: a tour of the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory and an AAA baseball game between the Louisville Bats and the Norfolk Tides.
Located in downtown Louisville not far from
the original Hillerich & Bradsby factory, the
Louisville Slugger Museum is a joy for a baseball fan.
Leaning against the building is a 120 foot bat, which was
unfortunately being painted during our trip. Just inside
the building is a 10 foot long, 17 ton baseball glove
carved from Kentucky Limestone. The building itself is
made of brick and is reminiscent of an old-time ballpark.
The tour begins with a twenty-minute movie focusing on the game of baseball with lots of money shots of Louisville Sluggers being used. The movies must be updated frequently as there were many clips of last year’s World Series. The highlight during our tour was of a boy in a group of preschool-aged kids shouting “We win” when a clip of Derek Jeter hitting a home run was shown.
Following the movie, the tour led to galleries that featured memorabilia from the game, including a Babe Ruth’s signed contract with Hillerich & Bradsby to use only Louisville Sluggers, many bats, gloves, spikes, and uniforms, and other pieces of interest to fans. Additionally, there was a history of both the game of baseball and of the Hillerich & Bradsby company as they moved from making furniture and butter churns to making baseball bats.
One of the galleries was set up as a
miniature baseball field that included an old-time radio
booth and other interactive exhibits. There were many
hands-on activities in the galleries, including, of
course, many bats.
The tour then moved into the factory itself. Unfortunately, pictures weren’t allowed, which made sense because people are working there. We were taken through all the steps of making a bat, from the events that take place prior to the factory (growing trees, harvesting the trees, making the lumber into billets), to the process of cutting a bat, stamping it, engraving it, dipping it, and preparing it to the specifications of the major leaguer who ordered it (or whoever ordered it from minor league players, businesses, regular individuals, and even the president, who gets a special seal on his). During our tour, we saw bats being made for Neifi Perez of the Royals, Doug Glanville of the Phillies, Jacob Cruz of Detroit, and even a set of bats for Bo Jackson who has been retired for ten years.
Predictably, the tour
ends at the gift shop. I bought a personalized bat, but
there were a number of items available. One of the most
interesting things in the museum is in the gift shop: a
wall made up of the signatures of the major leaguers who
have used Louisville Sluggers. All the greats and
not-so-greats are here and it was quite an impressive
sight.
An equally impressive sight in Louisville is
Louisville Slugger Field, the home of the AAA Louisville
Bats, affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. In its second
year of existence, Louisville Slugger Field offers
everything a fan wants from a minor league ballpark:
great seats, a beautiful park, and entertainment.
The Bats beat the Norfolk Tides 4-3, although the mood was somewhat somber at the beginning of the game when Darryl Kile’s death was announced. Things picked up once the UPS golf cart brought the Bats’ mascot onto the field and the Oakland Raiders’ Cheerleaders did some dance numbers.
The park is two tiered
between first and third base and includes luxury suites.
Bleachers are in both left and right field, although in
right field there is a lower tier of tables and chairs
for group parties. When we were there, a bachelor party
resided in those seats and mercilessly heckled the Tides
right fielders. In left center is a hill in which
families can sit on the grass. A home run was hit there
during the game. A concourse runs the entire diameter of
the park. Connected to the park are a steak house and a
microbrew where we had dinner prior to the game. It is a
great facility in downtown facility that seems to have
the support of the fans. Last year, the Bats led the
International League in attendance as they won the
championship and had over 11,000 fans at the Saturday
evening game we attended.
SCFM -- July 2, 2002