TREASURE TROVE

March 7, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Museum is a must-see for baseball fans

Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

Grabbing a bat once swung by Johnny Bench brought a rush of cherished memories for James Montgomery during a visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory — where baseball memorabilia mixes with a close-up look at how the famed bats are crafted.

Just touching the bat used by the Hall of Famer had Montgomery reliving excursions to the ballpark with his father decades ago to watch his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates try to outslug the Cincinnati Reds and their “Big Red Machine” lineup that included Bench.

“That was pretty neat holding that bat,” Montgomery said after touring the museum and factory with his wife and in-laws. “It brings back those childhood memories.”

Hillerich & Bradsby Co. — a fifth-generation, family-owned company — has been crafting bats since 1884 and currently churns out about 1.8 million Louisville Sluggers each year.

About six in 10 big- leaguers currently use Louisville Slugger bats.

The sights and smells can tantalize visitors to the museum and factory — a must-see for baseball fans if they happen to be anywhere near Kentucky’s largest city. Towering outside is a 120-foot-tall steel bat that looms as a landmark in downtown Louisville.

Inside, visitors stroll through the heart of the factory — where fast-churning machines turn cylinder-shaped billets of wood into bats used from recreational leagues to the big leagues. The factory is enveloped by the smell of the wood and the whirring sound of the equipment.

“You’re really in the factory,” said Montgomery, of suburban Dallas. “That was really cool. A lot of times you’re like on a sky bridge and they’re all the way down on a lower level.”

Next to the factory is the museum, which features a treasure trove of bats once gripped by a “Who’s Who” of baseball greats. There are lots of photos and interactive displays.

The most eye-catching display might be a bat used by Babe Ruth in 1927, when he hit 60 home runs. The 40-ounce bat has 21 notches carved along the top of the Louisville Slugger logo — one for each round- tripper that Ruth slugged with the bat.

Another display shows the Louisville Slugger that Hank Aaron used for his 700th home run on his way to surpassing Ruth on the career home run list. Opening a drawer in the same case reveals bats used by such greats as Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray, Mike Schmidt and Tony Gwynn.

Just a short toss away is a bat used by Ted Williams late in his fabled career, and a nicked bat once swung by the tragic “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who was banished from baseball along with several teammates after being accused of conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series.

All those wooden treasures are under case, but visitors can take hold of baseball history in a popular display featuring bats used by Bench and New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle.

After donning white gloves, visitors in the “Hold a Piece of History” exhibit can clutch the bats, pretending they’re sending a fastball soaring over the outfield fence.

The approximately 30-minute factory tour gives visitors another hands-on experience. They move past cylinder-shaped wood billets shaped into bats — one every 30 seconds or so.

An employee demonstrates how bats used to be made on hand-turning lathes. Tiny wood chips fly as he shapes a bat using a process that used to produce one bat every 25 or 30 minutes.

For more information, visit www.sluggermuseum.org or call (502) 585-5226 or (877) 775-8443.