Louisville Slugger Field of the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat, and the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory is located several blocks further down Main Street. The stadium is accessible from I-64, I-65, and I-71. The Louisville Bats and the City of Louisville broke ground on Louisville Slugger Field on November 13, 1998. In front of an estimated crowd of 1,000, Mayor Jerry Abramson and Governor Paul E. Patton cut out the first home plate before they broke the ground with Bats President Gary Ulmer and other officials. The stadium hosted the 2008 Triple-A All-Star Game, in which the Pacific Coast League All-Stars defeated
Hillerich & Bradsby becoming the first baseball player to officially endorse a bat. Frank Bradsby, a salesman, became a partner in , and the company's name changed to Hillerich and Bradsby. By , H&B was selling more bats than any other bat maker in the country, and legends like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were all using them. During World War II, the company produced wooden rifle stocks and billy clubs for the U.S. Army. In 1954, the company purchased Larimer and Norton, Inc., a Pennsylvania lumber company to ensure a supply of hardwood for their products. In 1976, the company