Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory is one of the places where you can see the entire process of manufacturing legendary baseball bats with your own eyes.

When baseball has been just invented, the ball was hit with sticks. But later, when it became an official sport, the players were making bats themselves or ordered them from a joiner. The requirements for bats were not so strict, and almost everyone could do it with his own hands. There were no restrictions on the type of wood, weight, and length. The only rule was to round the edges. Each player was making his bat to succeed. Later, famous players were playing with shorter bats.

Hillerich & Sons, owning a wood processing shop, was the first one to completely redesign its production and produce baseball bats. For many years, this company was producing bats only from the ash of Pennsylvania, New York. Ash is precious for its durability, flexibility, and small weight.

Museum visitors can go through all production stages where they can see how the famous Louisville bat is made from a piece of wood. At first, a worker puts a piece of wood on a lathe, where he processes it, removing sharp edges. Then, pieces are testing on strength and flexibility. After that, the edges are processing with a preservative to prevent the splitting. All the pieces are transporting to the production shop. People call them “green” there because the wood still contains resin and tree sap. 

Then, the pieces are taking to the “drying”. They are placing in the fresh air and left for a period of six months to two years. After drying and checking, bats are polishing one more time on a lathe. This is the moment when the narrowed part appears. During grind, people weight them. Once everything is ready, the wooden bats are transporting to painting, branding, and varnishing.