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 &
Louisville, Kentucky which skateboarder Tony Hawk has called one of his top five skate parks. Louisville has seven professional and semi-professional sports teams, but no major league teams. It is the fourth largest U.S. city without one, with only Austin, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas and El Paso, Texas larger. The Louisville Bats are a baseball team playing in the International League as the Class AAA affiliate of the nearby Cincinnati Reds. The team plays at Louisville Slugger Field at the edge of the city's downtown. In 2014 Louisville City FC, a professional soccer team in the league then known as USL Pro