When in Louisville KY, it is essential to visit the home of the Louisville Slugger, the quintessential American bat for the quintessential American game.
Right downtown is the combination of factory, museum and gift shop that just gets you in the mood to play, or to root for your home team. There is a great tour that shows how the bats are made and you get to see one forming before your eyes. The family that still runs the company owned the original wood shop that turned anything wood on a lathe – even a baseball ball. Today, 1.8 are produced annually, which tells you how popular the game is, and how good they are.
In this age of computerization, professional players have their custom-designed, and there are evidently many many nuances that speak to each player. The museum has an amazing collection of the bats of many of baseball’s legends, including players like Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Derek Jeter and Ty Cobb, along with other baseball artifacts, like seats from Wrigley Stadium.
We loved it, even though a real baseball fan would have spent an additional two or three hours looking at the exhibits. You could feel the energy of the game everywhere!
I wish I had pictures from my childhood…. the baseball games in the hot summer afternoons on gravel and dirt ball fields with our Louisville sluggers! (We were lucky to get dropped off by a parent, let alone have one of them watch the game!) Ah them dirty bats!