Louisville: A surprisingly good baseball town
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- If you're like me and the extent of your baseball fandom is centered on the major leagues, it's easy to overlook Kentucky. Yes, they have the Reds right over the border in Cincinnati. But for the most part, Kentucky is fly-over (drive-past) country for most MLB fans.
No longer will this be the case for me. On our way back from our marathon trip to D.C. and Baltimore, we stopped in Louisville.
We had a great baseball-themed day on Monday, visiting the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory during the day and then catching a Louisville Bats Triple-A game at night.
The bat museum, which you can't miss in downtown Louisville because of the massive bat leaning against the side of the building, reopened just two weeks ago after a renovation project that added new exhibits and generally freshened up the look of the place.
Among the new exhibits are the bat Joe DiMaggio used during his 56-game hitting streak in 1941 and a Babe Ruth bat, right, used during his 60-home run season in 1927. The Babe put a notch around the Slugger label for every homer he hit with it.
The museum also has lifelike statues of Ruth, Ted Williams and Ken Griffey Jr.
As for the factory tour, you're allowed to walk within a few feet of the workers and the machines that turn the billets (long cylinders of wood cut out of tree trunks) into the bats you see on the field, in the sporting goods stores and the souvenir stand.
It seemed the major project in the factory on Monday was creating the pink bats that will be used by major leaguers on Mother's Day next month. There were hundreds of them piled up or drying with order tags on them addressed to Derek Jeter and many others.
Oh, and I almost forgot the sweet souvenir at the end of the tour ...
... a 18-inch bat to take home!
In short, the place is well worth the $10 you pay to get in. Parking costs about $6 and is conveniently located in a city garage attached to the museum. Plus, it's in the middle of historic downtown, so there are lots of little shops and restaurants to check out after your tour.
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Seeing a minor league baseball game wasn't originally on the agenda, but when we drove by Louisville Slugger Field, we had to at least check to see if they were in town. As luck would have it, they were.
The team's Web site bills the stadium, which opened in 2000, as the "finest minor league park in the country." I'm not 100 percent sure about that, but it is quite nice for a minor league facility.
We got tickets in Row Q behind first base for $10 apiece. Parking in a city garage a few blocks away was $5.
The only complaint was the slow service at the concession stand. CFW ordered an Italian ice and it literally took 15 minutes for the staff to track it down and serve it to her.
The game was pretty good, too. The Bats won 6-4.
I'm glad we ran across the stadium. We'll be sure to work it into any future trips that take us past the Louisville area.
This is a great park but next time go up I65 and stop at Victory field in Indy on your way to Wrigley. While they may be the Pirates Triple A team (which has made it hard to watch the past few years) at least you get to see large number of rehab guys coming thru. You can even see the game for free if you want to sit out in the grass hill just past the outfield walls.
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