(from press release)

The name is synonymous with baseball. It has icon status in American culture. It generates excitement among ball players; from tee ball to the Major Leagues. It’s a name that evokes nostalgia for anyone who ever picked up a bat.

That name is Louisville Slugger®, and the fifth-generation, family-owned company is celebrating its 125^th anniversary during the 2009 baseball season.

“We’re humbled and honored to be a part of baseball’s rich and storied history,” said John A. Hillerich IV, President & CEO of Hillerich & Bradsby Co., manufacturers of Louisville Slugger. “We’ve worked hard to design and manufacture the best baseball bats and other equipment since my great-grandfather Bud Hillerich made our first bat for Pete Browning in 1884.”

Since then, over the course of 125 years, Louisville Slugger has been the name associated with baseball equipment. It was the first company to sign a professional athlete to a product endorsement contract when it inked Honus Wagner in 1905. Louisville Slugger subsequently signed the great Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth to promote its products.

Today more than 8,500 professional baseball players have been under contract with Louisville Slugger. The list is a who’s who of baseball. In addition to Wagner, Cobb and Ruth it includes other Hall of Fame members such as Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Harmon Killebrew, George Brett, Robin Yount and Tony Gwynn to name a few. The great Ted Williams once said he’d have been a .290 hitter if it weren’t for Louisville Slugger. And stars of today like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Ken Griffey, Jr., Evan Longoria, Dustin Pedroia and Prince Fielder are contract players for Louisville Slugger, the Official Bat of Major League Baseball.

(more…)

(from press release)

Hall of Famer Hank Aaron will be in Cooperstown, NY, on Saturday, April 25, 2009, to celebrate the opening of a new historic permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum entitled Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream. The exhibit — which chronicles Aaron’s life, from childhood through his big league and post-baseball careers, including his vast philanthropic efforts — will open for the first time that day.

The announcement that Aaron will appear in Cooperstown comes 35 years to the day after Aaron established the career home-run record with his 715th home run at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium off Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 1974. While in Cooperstown, Aaron will participate in a ceremony for the ribbon-cutting at 11:00 AM and will be the featured guest for a one-hour discussion in a Voices of the Game event at 1:00 PM.

(more…)

(from press release)

One Fine Season, the new novel by Michael Sheehan, is more than riveting personal drama — it chronicles a profound and uplifting spiritual awakening.

Best friends Danny Grace and Pete O’Brien are college athletes hoping for careers in professional baseball. Haven Jensen is Pete’s girlfriend and the three are inseparable. When an accident on a rural California wine country road claims his friends’ lives, Danny must overcome the devastating personal loss to fulfill the pact made by the boys years earlier — to make it to the big leagues.

Months after the accident, Danny still suffers from suffocating grief. Drafted by an expansion team, he is sent to a minor league training camp in Arizona, where he vows to keep his promise to Pete. One lazy afternoon while taking extra ground balls after practice, Danny thinks of the friends he has lost, and begins to throw the ball harder and harder. He catches the eye of Henry Foster, a scout sitting in the stands. Foster invites Danny to a pitching tryout the next day.

(more…)

(from press release)

What’s the secret to the Philadelphia Phillies’ winning ways? The folks at Turkey Hill Dairy – makers of the team’s official ice cream flavor, Phillies Graham Slam – like to think their frosty treats played at least a small role in the Phils’ historic 2008 season, and this year they’ve created a new treat that pays homage to baseball’s most lovable mascot, the Phillie Phanatic.

The newest addition to the roster, Phillie Phanatic Double Play, features Bavarian cream-flavored light ice cream with caramel corn and caramel swirl. The pint-sized rookie will be available in Citizens Bank Park and wherever Phillies Graham Slam is sold.

“After a season like last year, we knew we’d have to step up to the plate with a little something extra and that’s why we developed the new flavor,” said Turkey Hill President Quintin Frey, adding that a lot of thought went into creating a flavor for the team’s outrageous mascot. “Just like the Phanatic, this ice cream is a little unusual but it’s something you can’t help but love.”

(more…)

(from press release)

Despite competition from ever-increasing food options – ranging from Ichiro Sushi offered at Safeco Field in Seattle to Rocky Mountain Oysters (fried bull testicles) at Coors Field in Colorado – hot dogs are still top dog in our nation’s ballparks, according to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council’s (NHDSC) annual survey.

The NHDSC forecasts that ballparks around the country will serve 21,733,839 hot dogs this season — an impressive feat and enough to round the bases 30,186 times and stretch to and from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL, the two sites of the 2008 World Series.

(more…)