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Louisville Slugger Marks Fenway Anniversary With Special Bats

Workers at the Louisville Slugger Factory are making special bats this week to mark the anniversary of Major League Baseball’s oldest ballpark. The bats being turned out at the company’s downtown factory will be used by some members of the Boston Red Sox this Friday. That’s when they’ll take on the New York Yankees and celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park, the home of the Red Sox.Louisville Slugger spokesman Rick Redman says Major League Baseball has given the company permission to produce commemorative bats for the occasion."We’re going back to the old 1912 era Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville Slugger, Hillerich and Bradsby logo, and we’re also adding a 100 year Fenway Park anniversary logo," he said.More than a dozen members of the Boston Red Sox swing Louisville Sluggers, as do many of the Yankees, but only the Red Sox players will use the anniversary bats."We’re the official bat of Major League Baseball, we’re the number one bat of Major League Baseball, we take pride in that," Redman said. "And we’ve been involved in every single game that’s ever been played in Fenway Park. They’re a hundred years old, we’re 128 years old. And so we take great pride in being able to play such an important role in the history of baseball, which is a great part of the history of America."The Louisville Slugger is not this city’s only historical connection with the Red Sox. Louisville was twice the home of the Red Sox farm club, the Louisville Colonels, most recently in the late 60s and early 70s.(Logo and photo of Fenway Park courtesy of the Boston Red Sox/Major League Baseball)

Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.