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Louisville Slugger
If you are ever in, or near, Louisville, Kentucky, you must visit the Louisville Slugger headquarters, and factory. I am not a huge baseball fan; but I loved the place. In addition to being interesting, fun, and historical, it is real. This is a genuine piece of America, which has been around forever, and has survived all of the changes which have erroded much of what the nation had formerly been. It is nice, from time to time, to see a bit of the old America, peeking through.

As long as there has been baseball, there have been Louisville Slugger bats. The factory and offices stand in the commercial district, just off of the main drag of downtown.

The Big Bat stands in front of the main entrance, marking the building, and acting as a lure to the faithful. It certainly makes the place easy to find, for the tourist.

The bat rests, on the brick paved entrance. Next to the plant is a window and glass shop, which seems pretty appropriate. The ball going through the window, marks the glassworks, as clearly as the bat marks the Slugger factory.

A look inside, along the main corridor. Tours of the factory are available. Well, maybe next time. Note the little girl, in the middle of the photo, with the pink bat.

The glass sign indicates that this is the signature wall, containing the names of all of the players that have been involved with the Louisville Slugger.

Another look at the signature wall, which contains 8000 signatures.

And still another look, in the other direction. Signatures are arranged by date, with the oldest being off to the left.

The Louisville Slugger signature wall.

Just inside of the front entrance, with the welcome desk, and the signature wall behind. The gift shop is off to the left, and the factory tour starts off to the right.

One last look at the signature wall, at it's starting point, by the factory doors. This starts at the turn of the last century, with players of whom I have never even heard.

The hall of fame section of the wall.  These are the signatures of the players, who are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

There is, of course, a gift shop. Actually, some pretty neat things are for sale here, including bats, balls, miniature bats, and an assortment of clothing.





This sign is set in concrete, among the brick paving at the base of the Big Bat.

The Big Bat, with parents, and others, posing in front for photos. It has become quite the tourist attraction.

A look up the body of the Big Bat.

Bat blanks, awaiting the final turing that will turn them into the stuff that dreams are made of. The blanks are arranged in racks, with numbers indicating weight and density.

The bats are still turned by hand, by craftsmen who were trained by men long retired. This is the genuine article.

A special workstation, where bats are turned for pro use. These are the bats that you will see in the hands winning the games, and setting the new records.