Tagged: Babe Ruth
Bats & Birthdays Vol. 1
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory-Louisville, KY: While the Louisville Slugger Museum was celebrating its 20th birthday, I was celebrating one of my own. It seemed like a perfect fit for both of us to celebrate together, so the boys and I made a trip to the city for a day of baseball fun.
We arrived, and got into the factory tour right away. They don’t allow any photography during the factory portion, but it was interesting seeing how the bats were made. Trevor and I had been here before way back in 2009, but it was still fun for him to see it all again, and understand it now that he’s a bit older. And of course Brian ate it all up, and loved seeing the whole bat-making process.
After the tour, we checked out the permanent exhibits at the museum. There are many relics and bats from the all-time greats of this sport! Below, Brian looks good with Hank Aaron’s bat, and he’s grown up with stories of ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson, so he was a little in ‘awe’ of ‘Black Betsy’.
Here’s Trevor with the Sultan of Swat himself, along with Babe’s best bat ‘Darlin” below that. I still have a great pic of the two when Trevor could barely see over the bat stand!
Trevor and the Babe
As a Tiger fan, I don’t think the Justin Upton signing was a great deal, but I do love his flame-tempered bat! And below that, the third bat down was used by the greatest Tiger of them all, one of the best hitters in history, Ty Cobb.
And now Bri is hanging out on this big glove…
Next we hit the cage! Brian did his best Hammerin’ Hank impression.
Then I tried to do a little laser show myself…
Next we checked out the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Oddball exhibit, which is here in Louisville temporarily. It contains some cool stuff, but not everything in it pertains to baseball. The photos are of Yankee Stadium made of toothpicks, and a real ‘double-header’, a two-headed calf. I highly recommend this factory tour and museum for any baseball fan in the area. It’s definitely worth going out of your way for, also, as it’s one of the best baseball places I’ve been to, second only maybe to the actual Hall of Fame. The history of the company is so rich, especially all of the great players who have swung Louisville lumber. I’m glad the museum and I could celebrate our birthdays together!
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
2012 Baseball Trip: The Road to Cooperstown
The National Baseball Hall of Fame
Cooperstown, NY: The road to Cooperstown, New York may not be what you’d expect. In fact, it is almost a like travelling back in time, to a place without super highways and sky scrapers. The road is carved into the landscape of up-state New York, passing farms and classic homes. It’s a journey to a simpler time when baseball was king of all sports…as it should be. The town itself is quaint, with the feel of the turn of the century, but I didn’t see too much of it on the way there, as I was so excited to reach my destination…the National Baseball Hall of Fame…
Inside your welcomed by Gehrig, Robinson, and Clemente. Pretty good trio of legends…
The actual Hall itself, which is pretty simple and elegant:
One of my favorite classic Tigers and fellow second baseman…Charlie Gehringer
I was surprised to see a display of movies that featured baseball:
The rest of the museum was sort of all over the place. It had no real flow to it, and you never really knew what you were going to see next. I’ve been to the Hockey HOF in Toronto, and I guess I was comparing that to the baseball one here in Cooperstown. I was disappointed to find that no other baseball was represented here other than MLB. Nothing on the Minor League, college baseball, international baseball (Olympics or WBC), Little League, Negro Leagues, or anything else. Even the display for the girls baseball was much smaller than I thought it would be. I did enjoy seeing some of the old memorabilia from the 1800’s and to see how the game evolved. There was plenty of room for more displays, though, and maybe recognizing some very good players and teams that will not make the Hall, but still meant a lot to the game of baseball. We had a fun time, and this was something that we just had to do to cross off our baseball bucket list, but I guess I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more to it. And then seeing the prices in the gift shop simply just ticked me off a bit…
At least my home town got a little recognition in the girls display
No individual players from the Detroit Tigers 1984 World Champions are in the Hall, but the team was too good not ro be represented in the museum.
Home plate from Emmet’s Field
Doubleday Field
Cooperstown, NY: While in the Coop, checking out Doubleday Field is a must. It’s and old-time throwback stadium, but I really like it’s simplicity. They have a summer college team play there now, so it’s good to see it in use. It’s too bad I couldn’t have seen a game played here, though. We used the parking lot here, too, and just walked to the HOF.
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
Logo of the Month: Chattanooga Lookouts
Affiliation: Los Angeles Dodgers
League: Southern League (AA)
Home Field: AT & T Field
Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Notable Alumni: Harmon Killebrew, Burliegh Grimes, Ferguson Jenkins, Trevor Hoffman, Adam Dunn, Pete Rose Jr.
Fun Facts: This franchise has been around since 1885 (that’s 124 seasons of Lookout baseball). The team played an exhibition game against the Yankees in 1931. At one point during the game, 17 year-old female pitcher Jackie Mitchell struck out Lou Gerhig and Babe Ruth. Just days after the game, MLB commisioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis voided Mitchell’s contract, stating the baseball was too strenuous for females. Mascot name is Looie. In 2009 the Lookouts won the Larry MacPhail trophy for best promotions by a Minor League Team.
Logo of the Month: Springfield Isotopes
League: ?? Double A
Home Field: Duff Stadium
Location: Springfield, ??
Affiliation: Capital City Capitals
Fun Facts: In the episode Hungry, Hungry, Homer, the Isotopes are believed to be relocating to Albequerque, NM. The franchise now exists there as a Triple A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Homer was the mascot for a short time during there winning streak in the episode Dancing Homer before being promoted to Capital City.
Notable Alumni: Flash Baylor, Fishbone Walker, Smash Diggins, Babe Ruth IV
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