Articles

The history of 'America's Pastime' can be traced as far back as the 1300's, surprisingly to places such as Russia and parts of Europe. Baseball can be traced back to the 1700's here in America to informal games that were played much more aggressively with few rules and even fewer rules regulating the equipment that could be used, especially the bats used for offense. The baseball bat had no particular design. Men used homemade baseball bats that were sometimes long, short, heavy, or even flat. This seemingly simple tool would not be perfected for quite some time. The first rules of the game set by an organization were implemented in 1845 by the amateur New York Knickerbockers. This was a team that was formed as a social club for the upper middle classes of New York City. The club members were led by Alexander Cartwright, who is actually credited with being the founder of baseball which is widely misunderstood to have been Abner Doubleday. The Knickerbockers were the first to play under the 'force out' rules of the game and were no longer able to get a base runner out by hitting or 'plugging' him with the ball. In 1859, the rules finally set guidelines that restricted the size of the bat. Baseball bats were now being limited to 2.5 inches in diameter. A rule that has remained the same until today was put in place 10 years later stating that the length of a bat couldn't exceed 42 inches in length. Although, there are no Major League ballplayers using a bat anywhere near that length. By 1890, the rules regarding a baseball bat became much more specific stating that a bat had to be round and could no longer be sawed off; this was shortly after the first American bat making company was in business. Pete Browning was a player on the hometown Louisville baseball team in 1884. Attending one of the local ballgames, then 17 year old John Hillerich, who was a wood worker for his father, witnessed Browning break his favorite bat in a ballgame. After the game, Hillerich went home to craft a replacement bat out of white ash lumber for Browning. The next game Browning went 3 for 3 causing that bat to become known locally as' the Louisville Slugger baseball bat'. Word traveled quickly of this new creation and soon after people were paying the father and son wood workers to craft more. The father and son team started making baseball bats under that soon to be household name. Honus Wagner was the first player that was paid to allow his name to be engraved into the bat which is still done to this day. The bats have always been high quality and have basically remained the same over time, but weigh less and have a thinner handle today. Louisville Slugger baseball bat reviews are normally very favorable by comparison to other baseball bat reviews. The 'Louisville Slugger' set the standard for baseball bat makers to follow.