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 &
Hillerich & Bradsby was renamed the DJ2 (Jeter wore #2). However descendants of Les Pinkam will still be allowed to get the bat with its P72 designation. In addition to retiring the P72 model number, Louisville Slugger also promised to give the final 72 P72 bats produced to Jeter to raise funds for his Turn 2 Foundation. There are three branches of Hillerich & Bradsby: Louisville Slugger, Bionic Gloves, and Powerbilt Golf. Bionic Gloves were designed by a leading orthopedic surgeon, and are used in many sports and recreational activities. Currently, there are 11 types of gloves: Golf, Gardening, Tennis, Fitness, Equestrian, Driving,