Hillerich & Bradsby Hillerich woodworking shop. J. F. Hillerich was uninterested in making bats; he saw the company future in stair railings, porch columns and swinging butter churns. In fact, for a brief time in the 1880s, he even turned away ball players. Bud, however, saw the potential in producing baseball bats, and the elder Hillerich eventually relented to his son. The bats were sold under the name "Falls City Slugger" until Bud Hillerich took over his father's company in , and the name "Louisville Slugger" was registered with the U.S. Patent Office. In , Honus Wagner signed a deal with the company,
Louisville Bats Memphis Redbirds. The RiverBats became the Triple-A team for the Cincinnati Reds in 2000. They also left Cardinal Stadium for Louisville Slugger Field, a new stadium in downtown Louisville, seating 13,131 with a more intimate baseball setting than their previous ballpark. Spectators enter the stadium through the restored "train shed" building, which was formerly the Brinly-Hardy Co. warehouse. The team's attendance was about 685,000 in the first season of Louisville Slugger Field and 663,961 the following year. In 2002, the team dropped the word "River" from its name and became simply known as the Louisville Bats. While the logo and