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,
Louisville Slugger Field the International League All-Stars, 6–5, in front of a sellout crowd. On July 8, 2009, John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson held a concert at the ballpark. In March 2015, Louisville City FC became the stadium's second major tenant. The team plays in the United Soccer League, which at the time occupied the third division of U.S. professional soccer but has now been elevated to second-division status. On August 1, 2008 a record crowd of 18,543 people attended a concert by Dave Matthews Band. The design of Louisville Slugger Field is a joint effort of HNTB Architects of Kansas