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 &
Brinly-Hardy Company Between 1980 and 1984, Brinly-Hardy shifted its current focus to manufacturing lawn care equipment. In 1996, James E. Hardy’s great-great granddaughter, Jane W. Hardy, became CEO of Brinly-Hardy Company. And in 1999, the company moved its facilities across the Ohio River to Jeffersonville, Indiana to make room for Louisville Slugger field. In August 2008, Brinly-Hardy acquired Spyker Spreaders, manufacturers of commercial-grade broadcast spreaders and outdoor power equipment. Brinly-Hardy products are distributed and sold throughout the United States at local retailers and chain home improvement stores such as Home Depot as well as online retail outlets like Amazon. Brinly-Hardy Company Brinly-Hardy