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 Labbe Slugger Labbe Richard "Slugger" Labbe (born June 14, 1968) is an American technical consultant who currently works for Toyota Racing Development. He had previously been employed in NASCAR as a crew chief for Yates Racing, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Richard Petty Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and others. He has also previously served as an analyst for NASCAR on NBC. Labbe was born in Saco, Maine and introduced to racing at a young age. His father, Ray, worked on cars in the NASCAR Busch North Series and often brought his son to the events. In 1984 at the age of 15, Labbe