History of Louisville, Kentucky charter member. While the Grays were a relatively short-lived team, playing for only two years, they began a much longer lasting relationship between the city and baseball. In 1883, John "Bud" Hillerich made his first baseball bat from white ash in his father's wood shop. The first bat was produced for Pete "The Gladiator" Browning of the Louisville Eclipse (minor league team). The bats eventually become known by the popular name, "Louisville Slugger", and the local company Hillerich & Bradsby rapidly became one of the largest manufacturers of baseball bats and other sporting equipment in the world. Today, Hillerich &
Slugger Ann behind the bar and was the superintendent for the apartments above the building. Several television shows like "Naked City" were filmed outside the bar. Slugger Ann was similar in appearance to Mae West, with a large frame and blond hair. Slugger Ann's closed in 1980 when Ann Uglialoro died. It became a bar called "La Bamba" and the space is currently occupied by the 12th Street Ale House. Slugger Ann's is featured in many books about New York City nightlife and culture of the 1960s and 1970s. A stage play about Slugger Ann and Jackie Curtis has been in the