thumb 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.

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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 Louisville 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. The league changed and expanded to Memphis and Durham, and the Cardinals shifted their AAA affiliation to Memphis, Tennessee and the new Memphis Redbirds not-for-profit franchise. 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.

Louisville has won the attendance title every season since moving into Louisville Slugger Field.

Titles

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

• 1972: Lost to Tidewater.
• 2001: Defeated Red Barons.

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. The Redbirds won the American Association title in 1984, 1985 and 1995.

Current roster

Players				Coaches/Other
Starting rotation Bullpen		Catchers Infielders Outfielders		Manager Coaches † Disabled list ‡ Reserve list § Suspended list

Alumni

This list contains former Louisville players who have played in at least 100 games in the major leagues:

• Jay Bruce
• Vince Coleman
• Adam Dunn
• Todd Zeile
• Andy Van Slyke
• Austin Kearns
• Felipe Lopez
• Lance Johnson
• Brian Jordan
• Joe Magrane
• Willie McGee
• Matt Morris
• Wily Mo Peña
• Tom Nieto
• Terry Pendleton
• Deion Sanders
• Rafael Santana
• José Uribe (José González while playing for Louisville)
• Joey Votto

See also

• Sports in Louisville, Kentucky