The Louisville Slugger Museum: A Must-See Louisville, Kentucky Attraction

The Louisville Slugger is the No. 1 selling bat and a favorite among players, from pee-wee level to professional, according to our tour guide on a recent trip to the Louisville Slugger Museum. The Louisville Slugger Museum opened in the headquarters of the Louisville Sluggers parent company, Hillerich & Bradsby Company, in 1996, in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

Visitors to the Louisville Slugger Museum are greeted outside of the museum by the World's Biggest Bat, it is a 120-foot tall bat made from steel weighing 68,000 pounds. Interesting details of the bat include the fact that it is an exact-scale replica of Babe Ruth's 34-inch Louisville Slugger, and it features Bud Hillerich's signature.

Once inside the museum visitors can view the movie "The Heart of the Game" in the museum's theater. The movie is included in the admission cost, and is an inspirational film featuring anecdotes from top players of both the past and present.

Once the movie is over visitors get the chance to wander around the museum before their factory tour. During the factory tour visitors will learn how bats are cut, logos are placed on the bat, see how special order bats are made, and view the process in which the bats are stained. Once the tour is complete each visitor will receive their own miniature bat to take home with them.

After the tour visitors can visit Bud's Batting Cage where they can take a swing at the ball. The cost is only $1 per person, and even the littlest hitters can get in the act by hitting a baseball off of a tee. At the batting cage visitors can test out the latest bats including bats from the TPS and TPX lines.

According to The Louisville Slugger Museums website it is open seven days a week year round, but is closed for major holidays with no bat production on Sundays. Bat production on Saturdays only runs during the months of April through November. Guided tours run every twenty minutes, with the last tour ending thirty minutes before the museum closes.