Louisville Bats

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Louisville Bats
Louisville Bats
League International League
Division West Division
Year founded 1982
Major League affiliation Cincinnati Reds
Home ballpark Louisville Slugger Field
Previous home ballparks Cardinal Stadium
City Louisville, Kentucky
Current uniform colors black, purple, yellow
Previous uniform colors red, navy
Logo design A black bat with purple shadowing and yellow outline. The "Bats" wordmark is superimposed over the bat. The word "Louisville" is arched above the bat.
Division titles
League titles 2001
Manager
Owner

The Louisville Bats, which play in Louisville, Kentucky, are the AAA minor league baseball affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The team, formerly known as the Louisville RiverBats, plays in the International League. The Bats play their home games at Louisville Slugger Field; the naming rights for the stadium were purchased by Hillerich & Bradsby, makers of the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1982, the St. Louis Cardinals switched their AAA team of the American Association, the Redbirds, from Springfield, Illinois to Louisville. During the 1982 season, the Redbirds broke the minor league attendance record by drawing over 800,000. In 1983, the Redbirds were the first minor league team to draw over one million fans in a single season. In 1998, the American Association folded and the teams moved to either the International League or the Pacific Coast League. As the league changed, the Cardinals moved their old AAA affiliate to Memphis, Tennessee and the team became the Memphis Redbirds. In 1998 and 1999, Louisville was affiliated with the Milwaukee Brewers and in 2000 with the Cincinnati Reds.

From the time the Redbirds arrived in 1982 until the 1999 season, they played their home games at Cardinal Stadium (formally called Fairgrounds Stadium), located at the Kentucky Exposition Center, which seated over 30,000, allowing for the broken attendance records. In 1999, when the Redbirds became affiliated with the Brewers, they took the name Louisville RiverBats. In 2000 the team moved to Louisville Slugger Field a new stadium in downtown Louisville, seating 14,000 with a more intimate baseball setting than at Cardinal Stadium. In 2002 the team dropped the word "River" from its name and became simply known as the Louisville Bats. While the logo and mascot consist of the winged mammal, the bat is also synonymous with the Louisville Slugger baseball bat.

[edit] Titles

The Bats have won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the IL, once, and played in the championship series twice.

Note: The Bats were ahead 1-0 in the championship series when the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred. The league canceled the rest of the series and declared the Bats the champions.

[edit] 2006 Roster

As of September 4, 2006; Final day of 2006 regular season

Pitchers

Catchers

  • 08 United States Ryan Jorgensen
  • 12 United States Dane Sardinha

Infielders

Outfielders

[edit] Appeared in at least one game with 2006 Bats but no longer with team

Note: Players with a linked name have Major League Baseball experience

[edit] Alumni

[edit] External links


Cincinnati Reds Franchise
AAA AA A Rookie
Louisville Bats Chattanooga Lookouts
 Sarasota Reds
Dayton Dragons
 Billings Mustangs
Gulf Coast Reds
VSL Reds
International League
North Division South Division West Division
Buffalo Bisons | Ottawa Lynx | Pawtucket Red Sox | Rochester Red Wings | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees | Syracuse Chiefs Charlotte Knights | Durham Bulls | Norfolk Tides | Richmond Braves Columbus Clippers | Indianapolis Indians | Louisville Bats | Toledo Mud Hens
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/o/u/Louisville_Bats_9a3f.html"
In other languages