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January 19, 2021
Latest Blog: THE LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
No, the Louisville slugger wasn’t one of baseball’s big home run hitters hailing from Louisville. We’re talking about a bat, the most famous line of bats in baseball history. But, ironically, the bats did evolve thanks to a ballplayer from Louisville. His name was Pete Browning and he had a 13-year career that stretched from 1882 to 1894, the first eight years of which were spent with the Louisville Eclipse of the then major league American Association.
Enter John “Bud” Hillerich, who at the time was an apprentice in his father’s woodworking shop in Louisville. One day in 1884, the 17-year-old Bud went to an Eclipse game and watched as Pete Browning broke his bat. Browning was also in a bad slump and, after the game, Bud Hillerich invited him over to his father’s shop, offering to craft him a new bat. He wasn’t exactly a novice. Bud had played some amateur ball and actually made some of his teammates their bats. So with Browning watching his every move, the youngster crafted him a new bat from a solid piece of wood. The next day Browning took his new bat to the plate and banged out three hits. Goodbye slump.
When his teammates asked Browning where he got the bat he told them the story and soon several of them were walking into the Hillerich shop to ask about having new bats made. Bud’s father saw his company’s future in items such as porch columns and stair railings, as well as butter churns, so he began telling the ballplayers to go somewhere else. But his son kept after him, trying to convince his father there was a big future in bat making and the elder Hillerich finally gave Bud the green light.
In 1894, after his father’s retirement, Bud Hillerich took over the business and soon after registered the name “Louisville Slugger” with the United States Patent Office. Then in 1905, Hillerich thought of a clever way to market his product. He paid the great Honus Wagner to allow him to put his name on a bat, which started a practice that continues to today. It was one of the very first times an athlete had endorsed an athletic product. By 1923, Louisville Slugger was producing and selling more bats than any other company in the country. To further the marketing end of his company, Bud Hillerich hired a man named Frank Bradsby and in 1916 made him a full partner, changing the name of the company of the Hillerich and Bradsby Company.
Over the years, Louisville Slugger bats were used by the likes of Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron, Tony Gwynn, George Brett, Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey, Jr. That’s quite a laundry list of superstars, and there were many, many more.
By the 1970s the company also began making aluminum bats and to date has fashioned more than 100 million bats. In 1997, they signed an agreement to make the Louisville Slugger the official bat of Major League baseball. There have been other bats coming onto the market in recent years but the Louisville Slugger remains a giant in the industry.
To keep the company growing, in recent years it has been creating fielding and batting gloves, helmets, equipment bats, catching gear and other baseball accessories. They also offer the general public personalized, miniature, commemorative and collectible bats. Today, more than 1,800,000 wood bats are shipped from the Hillerich and Bradsby factory each year. And it all started when a 17-year old decided to go to a ballgame and saw a star player break his bat.
As for Pete Browning, he had quite a career in the nineteenth century. He retired after the 1894 season with a .341 lifetime batting average. He won three batting titles and, in 1887, batted .402 with 118 RBIs in 134 games. Guess he really loved that Louisville Slugger bat.
Bill Gutman
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Re: Louisville slugger
Great story!
Apparently the Hillerich and Bradsby name is no longer on the trademark of the Louisville Slugger bats?
Did Wilson or someone buy them out?
Keep up the fascinating stories.
Pete Aman
Portland, Oregon
Thanks Pete. I guess it’s certainly possible that the company was sold or name changed. Probably should have double-checked but my source was pretty current. Still a great backstory on how the Louisville Sluggers began.
Just checked Pete. The trademark name might not be on the bat but the company name remains Hillerich & Bradsby.
Pete,
Wilson did purchase about 5 years ago. The new logo has done away with the H&B oval on the sweet spot with an LS acronym where it used to be. Very Lame and another tradition goes by the wayside.
I just checked, Paul, and it still claims the name of the company is Hillerich & Bradsby, but Wilson certain may be the owner.
Bill,
Not disagreeing, only that H&B logo is not on the bat anymore, just Louisville Slugger…see below. H&B still
makes golf clubs, too.
https://www.slugger.com/en-us/baseball/wood/prime/2021-mlb-prime-signature-series-cb35-cody-bellinger-game-model-baseball-bat?ef_id=EAIaIQobChMI2qCT5-uo7gIVEYrICh1BVw84EAQYASABEgLbYvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!8492!3!381968865969!!!u!298831805925!&CMPID=Google-slugger_sn_g_shopping-smart-update—m-381968865969-&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2qCT5-uo7gIVEYrICh1BVw84EAQYASABEgLbYvD_BwE
Yes, Paul, they had branched out into other products some years ago. I was surprised to learn they also made aluminum bats. Ugh.
Comment from Bill Schaefer:
Just a note, Bill, on Honus Wagner, the first to link-up with the famous bat manufacturer. You’ve written about him before, but he was quite the complete star: Led the league in doubles seven times, triples three, BA eight times, and stolen bases five times (topping 50 swipes thrice).
In 1908, he just missed the Triple Crown–losing the NL home run derby to Tim Jordan of the Brooklyn Superbas, 12 to 10.
There are some today who still feel Honus Wagner may have been the greatest ballplayer ever. Wish I had seen him play.
Pete Browning also known as the “Gladiator” used to talk to his bats, which he named after people from the bible, was a life-long bachelor who lived with his mother. Today he would have been called eccentric. But he was one of the greatest hitters not only of the nineteenth century, but of all time.
Interesting stuff, Sean. I saw the nickname Gladiator on the BB Reference site. Also read that he was called the Louisville Slugger, but felt that name may have been coined to go along with the name of the bat. He did have quite a record and that .402 season. Noticed he also died young, at age 44. Not sure how.
Bill,
Browning, like a lot of ball players back then was a heavy drinker. He also had mastoditis, a painful affliction for many years.
Speculation was he died of cancer aided by alcohol fueled cirrhosis of the liver.