Heading "Juuust a Bit Outside" of Louisville for Tribe Fest 2017
By PJ Shelley, Tour and Programming Director
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory’s Mobile Museum rolls into Cleveland this weekend for our second consecutive Tribe Fest. With our exclusive Signature Rubbing Boards that feature the greatest players in Cleveland’s history, fans can take home their own rubbed signature of favorites like Napoleon Lajoie, Joe Carter, and Francisco Lindor. Plus, Rocky Colavito’s original contract will be on display with a giant version of one of our favorite archival shots that shows just how much Rocky loved the bats we made for him. We’ll have museum passes to give away with a chance to win a personalized bat, so there’s plenty for fans to see and do. Naturally, we’ll have lots of bats for fans to check out.
Until 2016’s historic run, the last time the Tribe took the AL pennant was in 1995. We’re featuring bats with direct ties to three of the stars of that beloved team: Kenny Lofton, Eddie Murray, and Sandy Alomar Jr.
Our Kenny Lofton bat is directly out of our hallowed bat vault. His L167 model (pictured below) is 33 inches and a feathery 26 ounces. The speedy outfielder never took anything that light to the plate in a game. Bat models from our vault represent the exact shape, not necessarily the length or weight, of a bat. Those measurements can vary within a particular model. Kenny ordered 93 Louisville Slugger bats from us in 1995, and they all weighed 31 ounces.
Eddie Murray’s game-used bat (pictured left) is the heaviest we’re bringing to Cleveland at 35 inches and 34 ounces. While Steady Eddie swung a few different models with us, this one is an O1 that was designed by Lefty O’Doul way back in 1933. The O1 was a popular model bat for many years and even ordered by another Indians legend: Larry Doby. If we see you in Cleveland, be sure to check out the cleat marks on the barrel of Murray’s bat that were made after Eddie hit his spiked shoes with the bat to knock out some dirt from his spikes.
The last bat we’re bringing from the 1995 team is a game-used bat of Sandy Alomar Jr (pictured below). His bat measurements fall between Murray and Lofton at 34.5 inches and 32 ounces. Coming from such a prominent baseball family, fans might think he would have chosen a model from his father or brother. Rather, he went with a B343 designed by former Indian and fellow Puerto Rican, Tony Bernazard, in 1987.
So swing by and check us out at the Intercontinental Hotel for Tribe Fest this weekend. Or better yet, check out the full museum in Louisville. We’re “juuust a bit outside” of Ohio.
