Undoubtedly the highlight off the golf course this week was the invitation to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum.

I recall having the pleasure of visiting the museum in 1996 when first in Louisville for the PGA Championship, so it was indeed a pleasure to return to the Museum.

It was Frederick Hillerich who emigrated with his family from Baden-Baden, Germany to Baltimore, Maryland in 1842 and then moved to Louisville in 1856 that saw the birth of the ‘Louisville Slugger’ bat.

Hillerich started a woodworking shop and by 1864 “J.F. Hillerich, Job Turning” was in business and filled orders for everything from balusters to bedposts. Hillerich’s eldest son, John Andrew “Bud” Hillerich, was born in Louisville in 1866.

The business thrived and by 1875 the little woodworking shop employed about 20 people. In 1880, Bud Hillerich, who was an amateur baseball player, became an apprentice in his father’s shop.

Young Bud made his own baseball bats along with bats for several of his teammates.

The rest as they say is history.

The evening was well attended with the Museum conducting a number of  guided tour’s of the factory where some 1.8m Louisville Slugger baseball bats are manufactured each year.

There was a number of ‘hands on’ exhibits including the privilege of holding a bat once used by legendary New York Yankees Mickie Mantle, who hit 2,415 runs including 536 ‘homers’.

So a special thank you to the Louisville Slugger Museum for their kind invitation and to all the staff for the friendly welcome along with all the food and drinks.

Hereunder is a selection of photographs from the evening (Click on photographs to enlarge).