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,
Slugger Labbe an analyst. In September 2017, he joined Toyota Racing Development in a vehicle support role. In 2018, he focused on Toyota's programs in the NHRA and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. 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