Apprentice Bud Hillerich played hooky from work at his father’s woodworking shop to watch a Louisville Eclipse baseball game in which the team hero broke his bat. Hillerich, left in this vignette, made a new bat for Pete Browning, whose nickname was “the Louisville Slugger.”

Text and Photos
By Rod King
Guest Columnist

LOUISVILLE — Towering over the Hillerich and Bradsby building at 800 W. Main St., in downtown Louisville is a 120-foot tall baseball bat marking the home of Louisville Slugger bats. The enormous bat weighs 68,000 pounds, is constructed of carbon steel, and has a hollow interior, which can hold 30,000 gallons of water. The diameter at its base is 9 feet, the handle is 3 feet, 6 inches, and the knob is 6 feet, 6 inches — perfect for a guy like Paul Bunyan.

It’s leaning slightly as though it’s ready to be picked up and taken to the plate by the likes of Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, George Brett, Ken Griffey Jr. or Derek Jeter.

These megastars are just a few of those who counted on Louisville Slugger and made it their bat of choice. Life-size replicas of some of them are scattered throughout the museum along with a host of hands-on exhibits about the game and the bat that put Louisville on the baseball map.

A monster baseball bat in front of the Louisville Slugger factory and museum in downtown Louisville is 120-feet tall and weighs 68,000 pounds. A tour of the factory shows visitors how bats were made in the late 1800s and today.

After purchasing admission tickets, tour the factory to see bats being made. The first stop is a lathe operator making a bat like it was done in the late 1880s. It took him around 20 minutes to turn out a single bat.

Maple and white ash from 6,500 acres of timberland, owned by the company in Pennsylvania and New York, is used to make bats. Part of the tour shows how the logs are turned into bats and how the company reforests the property. As the tour progresses, see chunks of bat-size wood moving along a conveyor belt and into a machine, which turns out a bat in just 30 seconds.

Today, around 3,000 full-size bats are made per day and approximately 1.8 million bats of all sizes are produced each year. That number includes the 18-inch souvenir bat each guest receives at the conclusion of the tour.

Back in the museum, stand behind home plate and see a 90-mile per hour fast ball slam into a dummy catcher. In another exhibit, guests are invited to step to the mound and throw a strike. After putting on gloves, visitors are welcome to pick their favorite player’s bat from a rack for a photo opportunity. A short film called “Heart of the Game” glorifies America’s past time.

The story behind the Louisville Slugger baseball bat involves Bud Hillerich. He was a teenage apprentice in his father’s woodworking shop where they made butter churns. Hillerich, an avid baseball enthusiast and amateur player, skipped work one day to watch the Louisville Eclipse play. When Pete Browning broke his bat, Bud offered to make him a new one. According to the story, Browning got three hits in the next game with the bat made by Hillerich. By the way, Pete Browning’s nickname was “The Louisville Slugger.”

The Louisville Slugger became the company’s registered trademark in 1894 and Hillerich’s father made him a partner in 1897.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. To buy tickets online, visit sluggermuseum.com and get a dollar off the admission price.

Tickets are: adults, $24; seniors 60 plus, $23; children 6-12, $16; and children 5 and under are free.