30 Years Later: How Louisville brought the Slugger bats home
By Sam Carter
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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — The Louisville Slugger is as quintessentially Louisville as bourbon or the Hot Brown.
But did you know that, from 1974 through 1996, the iconic baseball bats were made in Jeffersonville, Indiana?
According to Jack Hillerich, president and CEO of Hillerich and Bradsby, it was a promise from then-Mayor Jerry Abramson that pushed him to bring Slugger home.
“[The mayor said] Don’t worry about it, Jack,” Hillerich recalled. “If you build it and you don’t like it, I will buy it back from you.”
For his part, Abramson, who grew up working at his family’s grocery store across the street from the original Slugger factory, views luring the bat maker back to Louisville as one of his most satisfying accomplishments during his 21 years as mayor.
“Personally, this might be one of the most successful projects I worked on, without a doubt,” Abramson said. “We brought it back to Louisville.”
In July, the Slugger Museum and Factory will celebrate 30 years since it opened. According to the museum, approximately 7 million people have walked through the building since it first opened. Hillerich, when asked if he ever expected to reach that number of visitors, got philosophical.
“The most important things are unknown and unknowable. I didn’t have a clue how many people would come; I just knew we had to do it because it had to be done,” Hillerich said.
On July 13, the Factory and Museum will begin a week of programming celebrating 30 years at its Main Street Location.
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