LINEDRIVES AND LIPSTICK NOW OPEN!
Now through March 16th, Linedrives and Lipstick - The Untold Story of Women's Baseball pays tribute to this forgotten side of our national pastime with photographs and memorabilia. The temporary exhibition also celebrates the legends and landmarks of the dedicated women who hit, fielded, slid and played the game with passion.
Check out some of the gallery shots below. Click individual photos to enlarge.
NICKELODEON NAMES LOUISVILLE SLUGGER MUSEUM & FACTORY #1 TOURIST SPOT
Drum roll, please! The votes have been counted and the winner is ... Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, home of the Big Bat, for "Best Tourist Spot" in town.
The contest was sponsored by ParentsConnect.com, a popular website created by Nickelodeon, best known for child and family-friendly hit television programming like SpongeBob Squarepants and ICarly. ParentsConnect.com, which offers advice on raising children from babies to teens, asked visitors from all over the country for their favorite local family-friendly places. Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory emerged as the city's top tourist attraction.
To view the complete press release, click here.
VOTE LOUISVILLE SLUGGER MUSEUM & FACTORY'S BIG BAT ONE OF THE GREATEST PLACES TO STAND
With our awesome Big Bat, we are currently ranked in the "Greatest Places to Stand on the Planet" and the "Greatest Places to Stand in the United States." We want to be #1 so please step up to the plate, go to www.stoodthere.com and vote for Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. You can even post your own photos there with our Big Bat! Voting ends in December and every vote counts.
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER MUSEUM & FACTORY INTRODUCES DAILY PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE
As part of our renovation, we've added fun daily activities and programs for our guests to enjoy. Throughout the day, guests can experience live character performances, behind-the-scenes tours, hands-on activities and much, much more. Be sure to pick up a Daily Programming Schedule at the information desk during your visit.
Among the activities currently rotating through the daily programming schedule are:
Louisville Slugger Enlists - A live costumed character performance describing how Louisville Slugger pitched in during World War II.
Tales from the Bat Vault - Visit the Fort Knox of Louisville Slugger. The bat vault contains models used to create bats for some of baseball's all-time greats including Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron and many, many more.
Art and Architecture - Take a tour of Louisville Slugger's corporate headquarters and get a look at the Hillerich family's extensive collection of baseball artwork.
All daily programs are free with a museum and factory tour ticket.
BECOME A LOUISVILLE SLUGGER MUSEUM & FACTORY FAN ON FACEBOOK
Get the latest info on the happenings at Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory through Facebook.com. Visit our Facebook page by clicking here, and select "Be a Fan" underneath the photo of the Big Bat. As a fan of Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, you will receive timely information, special announcments and discounts not available anywhere else.
IT'S A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME! NEWLY RENOVATED!
Tuesday, April 14th, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory opened its doors with exciting new renovations to its main gallery and entire visitor experience. The project gives the museum more interactive experiences, and enables the museum to share and rotate important memorabilia in its collection that has never been displayed.
New exhibits include:
Hold a Piece of History - Visitors are able to hold game-used Louisville Slugger bats swung by some of baseball's greats, past and present.
Grandpa Bud's Attic - This interactive "attic" allows visitors to unlock and uncover significant memorabilia such as player contracts, bats, unique photographs and much more.
Babe's Bat - A new and more prominent exhibit for one of the museum's signature pieces - a Babe Ruth bat featuring a hand notch for every home run he hit with it during the 1927 season.
Joe DiMaggio's Bat - A new exhibit showcasing a Louisville Slugger bat used by DiMaggio during his 56-game hitting streak in 1941.
Along with the significant renovations done to the museum's main gallery, visitors will be treated to an updated short feature film - The Heart of the Game. The film features some of baseball's greatest hitters including interviews with Derek Jeter, Tony Gwynn and Johnny Bench. Recently added to the film are All-Star Grady Sizemore and a member of the 500 Home Run Club, Jim Thome.
To view the entire press release announcing the museum's grand re-opening, click here.
EXCITING DISCOVERY: NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN EVIDENCE OF BATS MADE FOR NEGRO LEAGUES
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory has uncovered a one-of-a-kind artifact that proves Hillerich & Bradsby Co. created bats for players in the Negro Leagues. While company lore indicated that Louisville Slugger did business with Negro League players, no evidence in the form of contracts, bat record cards or other paperwork was known to exist.
That changed on February 5, 2009 when Tour and Programming Director, P.J. Shelley, noticed a connection between the S128 Model and Mule Suttles, a superstar who played for the Newark Eagles and other Negro League teams. Investigating the clue with Curator Dan Cohen, they discovered a bat record card for Suttles that dated back to 1937. On the back of the card were the measurements for the S128 Model which was created specifically for Suttles.
To read the rest of the press release, please click here.
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER MUSEUM & FACTORY IS A HIT FOR LOUISVILLE
Not only does Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory have the honors of owning the biggest bat in the world, the museum was also named one of the “ 7 Wonders of Louisville ”! Louisville residents cast over 7,000 votes to choose from 20 local attractions in the contest’s first year. The award recognizes which historical and cultural sites are the top attractions in Louisville. Not only does the museum display some of baseball’s great pastime players and artifacts, you can also take a tour into the factory to see how MLB bats are made today. So come visit the museum and see why we were selected as one of the top HITS in Louisville!
EMERALD ASH BORER INSECT THREATENS BASEBALL BATS
The Emerald Ash Borer is an insect native to Asia that has arrived in parts of North America. It is destroying northern white ash trees at an alarming rate. Ash is one of the primary woods used for professional baseball bats. You can help prevent the spread of this insect and its devastation by not moving firewood. The Emerald Ash Borer spreads quickly when people move firewood across distances. Please, cut or buy your firewood locally and burn locally!
For more information on the Emerald Ash Borer and its impact, click here.