Wilson buying famed bat brand
Over a century of family ownership of Louisville Slugger bats is going ... going ... nearly gone.
The company that makes the iconic bats announced a deal Monday to sell its Louisville Slugger brand to rival Wilson Sporting Goods for $70 million. For 131 years, the family behind Hillerich & Bradsby has supplied bats for games from the sandlots to the big leagues.
H&B CEO John A. Hillerich IV said keeping the bat business in family hands had been a topic for years. But as the competition’s lineup grew in recent years, the family became willing to listen to offers to acquire the brand.
Hillerich is the great-grandson of John A. “Bud” Hillerich, who churned out the first Louisville Slugger bat in 1884 for a renowned baseball player in his day, Pete Browning.
H&B will continue to manufacture Louisville Slugger wood bats at its factory in downtown Louisville, Ken.
But sale of the brand will cost 52 H&B workers their jobs, out of a total work force numbering about 270, Hillerich said. The remaining employees will work either for H&B or Wilson.
