Hillerich & Bradsby Hillerich & Bradsby Hillerich & Bradsby Company (H&B) is a company located in Louisville, Kentucky that produces the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat. The Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in downtown Louisville features a retrospective of the product and its use throughout baseball history. H&B also makes baseball gloves, golf clubs, golf gloves and other equipment (under the "PowerBilt" brand). In 2015, the company announced plans on March 23 to sell its Louisville Slugger division to sporting goods manufacturer Wilson Sporting Goods. J. F. Hillerich opened his woodworking shop in Louisville in 1855. During the 1880s, Hillerich hired his seventeen-year-old
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