![]() The World's Largest Baseball Bat stands outside of the museum entrance | |
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Established | 1996 |
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Location | 800 West Main Street Louisville, Kentucky 40202 |
Coordinates | 38°15′25.7″N85°45′48.9″W / 38.257139°N 85.763583°W |
Visitors | 326,595 (2017) [1] |
Website | sluggermuseum.com |
The Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, is a museum and factory tour attraction located in Louisville, Kentucky's "Museum Row", part of the West Main District of downtown. The museum showcases the story of Louisville Slugger baseball bats in baseball and in American history. The museum also creates temporary exhibits with more of a pop culture focus, including collaborations with the Norman Rockwell Museum, [2] the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, [3] Coca-Cola, [4] LEGO artists Sean Kenney and Jason Burik, [5] Topps Trading Cards, [6] The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, [7] and Ripley's Believe It or Not! . [8]
The building also houses corporate offices for Hillerich & Bradsby (H&B) and its two other divisions, Bionic Gloves and PowerBilt Golf Clubs. Wilson Sporting Goods also maintains much of its Louisville Slugger sales force in the building after purchasing the brand from H&B in 2015. The Hillerich family maintains ownership of the museum and bat factory. [9]
The facility is the fourth location where Louisville Slugger bats have been made. The original shop was on South First Street in Louisville between Main and Market Streets. It was there that family legend suggests J. A. "Bud" Hillerich made a bat for Louisville Eclipse star Pete Browning after Browning broke his bat during a game in which Hillerich attended in July 1884. The next day, Browning got three hits with the bat and the legend was born. In 1901, the factory moved to the corner of South Preston and Finzer Streets, where they would stay until 1974. This site was vacant for many years after, but the land was donated to the city in 2015 to be developed into a community space. [10] From 1974 to 1996, Louisville Sluggers were actually made in Jeffersonville, Indiana, just across the Ohio River at a facility called Slugger Park, while H&B maintained corporate offices on Broadway in Louisville. [11]
Starting in the early 1990s, H&B CEO John A. "Jack" Hillerich III began looking to move production back to Louisville. Hillerich wanted to bring the factory back together with the business offices while also providing a place for the public to connect with the Louisville Slugger brand. Eventually, a site at 8th and Main Streets was chosen, the site of a former tobacco warehouse. [12] [13] After extensive renovations, the Museum & Factory opened in July 1996 with a gala of Hall of Fame players, including Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew and Pee Wee Reese. [14] [15]
The museum underwent additional major renovations in 2008, led by Formations of Portland, Oregon. [16] In 2013, the Museum & Factory broke its own attendance record, drawing more than 303,000 visitors; [17] this record was broken yet again in 2017, with attendance reaching 326,595. [1] Another round of renovations, the most extensive since 2008, was completed in 2023. [18] [19]
The museum routinely travels around the country with a pop-up version of the experience called the Mobile Museum. These experiences often include old-time bat making demonstrations, a "Hold a Piece of History" exhibit and assorted team-specific exhibits, games and giveaways. Since 2013, the museum has visited U.S. Cellular Field, Miller Park, Busch Stadium, Progressive Field and Victory Field as well as Winter Warm-Ups for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians. A Mobile Museum was also set up at the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Fan Fest in Cincinnati, and the 2017 ACC baseball tournament Fan Fest at Louisville Slugger Field.
The tour of the Louisville Slugger bat factory consists of five stops showing how the famous bats are made. Tours typically last around 30 minutes. Though full production may not be in place on evenings, weekends and holidays, bat making still occurs on every tour and all guests receive a complimentary mini-bat at the end. [26]
In 2015, the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory was named one of the most beautiful factories in the world. [27] [28]
Starting in 2007, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory has awarded a "Living Legend" Award. [29] The Award coincides with an annual memorabilia auction from Philadelphia-based auction house Hunt Auctions. [30]
Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city, although by population density, it is the 265th most dense city. Louisville is the historical county seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the winged mammal and baseball bats, such as those manufactured locally under the Louisville Slugger brand. The team plays their home games at Louisville Slugger Field, which opened in 2000. The Bats previously played at Cardinal Stadium from 1982 to 1999.
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Hillerich & Bradsby Company (H&B) is an American manufacturing company located in Louisville, Kentucky that produces baseball bats for Wilson Sporting Goods, which commercializes them under the "Louisville Slugger" brand.
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Louisville Slugger Field is a baseball stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. The baseball-specific stadium opened in 2000 with a seating capacity of 13,131. It is currently home to the professional baseball team, the Louisville Bats, Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. From 2015 to 2019, it was also home to Louisville City FC, a professional soccer team in the USL Championship.
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Louis Rogers "Pete" Browning, nicknamed "Gladiator" and "the Louisville Slugger", was an American professional baseball center fielder and left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1882 to 1894. He played primarily for the Louisville Eclipse/Colonels, becoming one of the sport's most accomplished batters of the 1880s.
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Black Betsy was the primary baseball bat of Shoeless Joe Jackson. It was hand made by a fan of his in 1903 when Jackson was still only 15. It broke the record for the highest sold baseball bat in history, when it was sold for $577,610 in 2001. By then it was considered one of baseball's most fabled artifacts. The record was broken in 2004 when a 1923 Babe Ruth bat sold for $1.2 million.
Adam Lynn Duvall is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins, and Boston Red Sox. Duvall played college baseball at the University of Louisville. Duvall was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2014. He was an All-Star in 2016.
Doe-Anderson Inc. is one of the oldest continuously operating advertising agencies in the United States; and it is the oldest independent agency in the US. The agency has served some of its clients for more than 50 years, including Maker's Mark bourbon and Hillerich & Bradsby, makers of Louisville Slugger bats and equipment. In business since 1915, Doe-Anderson currently has 130 employees and offers communication services including brand positioning, strategic planning, creative execution, media buying and planning, digital services, print and broadcast production and public relations. The agency is a member of the Advertising and Marketing International Network (AMIN), and of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's).
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