No vacation is complete without a factory tour. Hillerich & Bradsby, manufacturers of Louisville Slugger baseball bats, has been around in one form or another since 1855. That's when J. F. Hillerich opened his butter churn factory in Louisville. J. F.'s son John encouraged his father to branch out into making baseball bats - good thing since churning butter at home went out of fashion by the late 1800's. John took over the company in 1894 and took on partner Frank Bradsby in 1916. Pictures aren't allowed on the factory floor, so here is a YouTube video which shows some of the production process:
Bats are made from ash or maple wood. An 80 year old tree will yield 60 billets, those cylinders of wood that are turned on a lathe to produce a bat. There are three ways to turn a bat - on two different lathes or by hand. The company uses a 45 year old machine to turn retail bats. This machine can turn out 2,000 bats per day. Pro bats are made on a computerized lathe called a CNC Multimatic Lathe. There is one employee who has the skill to produce a hand turned bat. There's not much call for it, but Hillerich & Bradsby can do it if the customer wants it.
This six story, 68,000 pound bat is free standing, but appears to lean against the building.
Giving Derek Jeter a few tips concerning his form.
This is the bat vault.
Mike and I got a souvenir mini-bat at the end of our tour. Our guide also allowed us to select a couple of the nibs that are removed from the bats after turning.
Our guide explained that Hillerich & Bradsby produced 90% of the baseball bats sold in this country at their peak of production. Now they own about 40% of the market. Wikipedia lists thirty five "notable" bat manufacturers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_baseball_bat_manufacturers
But, you know what? Carrie Underwood didn't smash her fictional cheating boyfriend's fictional headlights out with a Dinger or an Area 51 bat.
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