Take me out to the bat factory
Anyone who reads my column knows our family loves to travel and loves baseball. So when we passed through Louisville, Ky. on our latest family trip, the first thing that popped into my oldest son's head was "Louisville Slugger."
My kids remembered seeing the bats made while watching an episode of John Ratzenberger's show "Made in America" on the Travel Channel. Although we had a packed itinerary, we were able to squeeze in a visit to the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum on our way home.
You can't miss the building at the corner of Eighth and Main Streets, which features a giant bat outside the entrance that is 120 feet tall, nine feet in diameter and 68,000 pounds. Once inside, the first thing we noticed was the current standings on a board on the wall, with both Chicago teams at the top in their divisions. (When is the last time that happened?)
We got our factory tour tickets and started looking around. The Signature Wall was exciting to view, with 6,000 signatures of major league players, including greats like Babe Ruth, that were burned into their white ash bats. We had fun scanning them to find Cubs players.
The boys also picked up bats like the ones made for Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Honus Wagner, Stan Musial and others with their names burned into them.
We did our tour a bit backwards and went through the museum first, but it's set up so that you first view a film on the game that lasts about 12 minutes. After that, you exit the theater into an underground locker room and full-size dugout full of bats.
Then you step up to a playing field with dressed mannequins looking like they're ready for play. Kids can step up to the plate or pitcher's mound -- or do like mine and make countless runs around the bases and slide into home.
In that area you can step into the press box and hear broadcasts by some of the best known play-by-play personalities of the past.
From there, you enter the museum gallery where one of Babe Ruth's bats is on display with notches he carved into it after he hit a home run. The factory tour took about 35 minutes.
Our tour guide, Doug, led us through the workspace that was surprisingly tidy and quieter than I expected. He passed around bats made for the latest World Series and All-Star games and
one made for Carrie Underwood after she sang about using a Louisville Slugger to knock out the headlights of her boyfriend's SUV.
We got to watch bats being made by machine, which took about 30 seconds each. At one stop, you got to pick up bats made for current players, among them Albert Pujolz and Alfonso Soriano.
We learned the bats have been made since 1884, that 60 percent of major league players use Louisville Sluggers and all their wood chips are sold to an Indiana turkey farmer for bedding. The tour ended with each visitor receiving their own miniature bat.
So, if you've got some baseball fans in your family and you're ever down that way, it's a stop you'll want to make.
Some tips for your visit:
* We got there late in the day and didn't get to spend as much time there as we would have liked. Plan on spending at least two hours for a leisurely visit to see everything (including a current exhibit on loan from a collector of baseballs signed by U.S. presidents).
* Don't forget that they're on Eastern time.
* If you can, start with the movie, then do the museum and factory tour.
* Pack the miniature bats away before the drive home, so your toddler doesn't crack a bat on his big brother's head.
Take me out to the bat factory / nwi.com
My husband kept laughing at me when they were passing the bats around to hold, because they were passing 3 or 4 different bats around at the same time as Carrie's and I kept moving over to try to get to where I could hold Carrie's bat. I was like, "I am going to hold that bat!". He thinks I'm obsessed with Carrie, but, he's probably right, lol.
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