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 City FC sections 121–123 of Slugger Field behind the Preston Street goal. Louisville City's main league and regional rivals are FC Cincinnati, Saint Louis FC, and Indy Eleven. Louisville City FC played and won its first professional match 2–0 against Saint Louis FC on opening day of the 2015 USL season. Since then the two sides have fostered a friendly rivalry for the King's Cup. The annual rivalry with FC Cincinnati for the Dirty River Derby, also known as "River Cities Cup", is one of the most hotly contested matches in lower division US soccer. The two cities are located a mere