THE BAT !!

One of the great things about commuting by bike is you get a chance to see things you overlook or take for granted while driving.  Like a lot of you I live in a city (Louisville, KY.) which has so much to offer if you just slow down and look. 

One of my bicycle commute routes to and from work takes me past some of the most historical places in Louisville, KY.   One of those places is The Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum.  As we approach the beginning of the season of “America’s Favorite Pastime” – Baseball; I’d like for you to see what I see several times a week on my bicycle commute to work. 

The entrance to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory reminds me of entrances to Camden Yards and Louisville Slugger Field.

Front of Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory

Front side of Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory

As you enter the museum you come face to face with thousands of signatures of professional payers who have signed contractors with Hillerich & Bradsby manufactures of Louisville Slugger bats on “The Signature Wall”.

The Signature Wall

Just past The Signature Wall you will work you way down the hall to begin your tour of the museum and factory to another wall which features the signatures of all of the Hall of Famers who were under contract with   Hillerich & Bradsby manufactures of the Louisville Slugger bats on “The Hall of Fame Wall”.

The Hall of Fame Wall

Once inside the museum you can test your batting skills in “Bud’s Batting Cage”, Named in honor of Bud Hillerich who made the first Louisville Slugger Bat back in 1884.  You can move over to the theater to watch, “The Heart of the Game”.    There is the Grand Slam Gallery.  Here you can actually hold one of the bats used by some of baseball’s greatest hitters.  “In Gallery 25” you can see lifelike sculptures of some of the games greats and sift through Grandpa Bud’s Attic.

As for me, the part I enjoy   most is the factory tour.  I can remember as a child my dad would often take me to the old factory when it was located just east of downtown to watch workers turn bats by hand.  Part of the factory was street level and as I remember there huge windows on one side of the factory where you could see men turning bats by hand. It wasn't until I became a teenager and took woodworking classes in junior high school that I was able to really appreciate the skill of these men who produce bats for some of the greatest hitters in baseball.   Lucky for me and you the factory’s current location allows you to witness the same production of bats as I did as a child in the 50’s.

Each morning as I commute to work by bicycle I still feel like that kid in the 50’s watching workers produce Louisville Slugger bats.

  

Another feature which is not connected (physically) to the museum and factory is The Louisville Slugger Walk of Fame. Introduced in 2006, The Louisville Slugger Walk of Fame salutes some of the greatest baseball and softball players who were under contract with Hillerich & Bradsby.    This Walk of Fall depicts sculptures of bats and plates with information about each player and their bat.  This artwork is laid out over several blocks within an easy walk in downtown Louisville from the museum.

Follows is a small sample of some of the sculptures of bats and players you will see along the Louisville Slugger Walk of Fame.

 

  

  

 

Joe Dimaggio

Babe Ruth

 The Rest of The Best

Josh Gibson

Lou Gehrig

Cal Ripken, Jr.

Frank Robinson

Oh, there is one more thing you can’t miss when you visit the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.  THE BAT.

In 1995, Hillerich & Bradsby moved THE BAT; the World’s Biggest Baseball Bat in front of their new headquarters and museum, while it was still under construction on Main Street. A lot of streets in downtown Louisville were closed off one weekend morning to move THE BAT in place.

  

The man standing next to the bat is 6’ tall

Some interesting facts about the museum and factory:

          * In 1884 –Bud Hillerich turns a wooden baseball bat for Pete “The Louisville Slugger” Browning.  This was the first bat the company made for a professional player, and the bats would eventually be branded with Browning’s nickname: Louisville Slugger.

  

*        THE BIG BAT in front of the museum and factory weighs in at  68,000 lbs., is 120 ft. long and 9 ft. diameter at the base; 3 ft. 6 in. diameter at the handle with a 6 ft. 6 in. diameter knob.

  

*        Joe Morgan, former Most Valuable Player of Cincinnati Reds, used one of the lightest bats coming in at 30 ounces.

  

*        A professional player will use about 120 bats in a season.

  

*        The factory produces abut 5,000 bats a day during their peak season which is Spring Training period.  Annually they manufacture about 1.8 million bats.

  

*        Where does all of that wood come from?  Hillerich & Bradsby has its own forests.

  

If you are a true baseball fan, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory is a must see on your places to visit.  As part of your tour visit you get a FREE Mini-Bat.  Not to mention the other merchandise you can purchase from the museum gift shop. I even have a personalized bat I got from there years ago "Bo Jackson". For more information about The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, visit them at http://sluggermuseum.com/

 Ride your bike today and see what you have missed in your city