Sunday, June 21, 2009

Baseball Museum 7: Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory

There are only a few things Mik has been excited about on the trip, such as Wrigley Field and his birthday in Pittsburgh where they have pierogis at the ballpark. Visiting the Lousiville Slugger Museum & Factory was among the few things that he actually wanted to do and was excited about. Yes, it was all because he knew he would get a free mini bat for his collection at the end of the factory tour.

We got to the museum right before the 2pm tour, so we went on the tour before exploring the little museum. Dad and I went on the tour back in 2002 when I was in the National Chess Tournament in Louisville, so it was familiar, but still interesting to do again. Being a Sunday the factory was not in production mode, but they have great videos that show the production. The best part of the tour is getting to feel different models of bats from over the years and preferences and different players. They even have an area with some current players bat models to pick up and feel. They are in the process of redoing this area, so while there is a slot for a player from each MLB team not every slot has a finished bat. We picked up the Nats Adam Dunn's bat and Mariners Ken Griffy Jr.'s bat.

At the end of the tour Mik and I got our free mini bats with a black logo of the museum and factory, which I will post about later in a Mik's Mini Bat Collection post. Dad got a special Most Valuable Dad 2009 mini bat, since it is Father's Day. Oh, and he actually got in free today because of it being Father's Day, so it ended up being a great day to do the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.




After the tour ended we went through the museum part. The museum includes several old bats, such as one the Babe Ruth put knotches in for each home run he hit with it and the third bat used by DiMaggio during his 56 game hitting streak. They also have some old wood items that the company made before becoming a bat making company in 1884, such as the swinging butter churner.




The final stop was at the gift shop. Mik got a personalized mini bat, which I will post about later. We were going to get him a personalized bat no matter what even if it was a big one, but since they did personalized mini bats that is what he got. I let Dad get a big one personalized as his Father's Day present. It is a two colored red one with gold lettering. He got it personalized to say All the Ballparks 2009 Road Trip. He is going to hang it up on the ledge in the Great Room.




Before heading to the car we took a bunch of photos outside the museum in front of the giant bat with us holding the personalized bats we got.

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