The Louisville Slugger Museum Exhibit
According to the legend, Bud Hillerich
turned the first wooden baseball bat for Pete Browning in 1884
and the "Louisville Slugger" was registered with the
United States Government as an official trademark in 1890. The
"Louisville Slugger" organization has been turning out
baseball bats since these earlier milestones in history. "Louisville
Slugger" remains today the premiere producer of finely crafted
bats in the United States.
Starting April, 3 2006 the "Louisville
Slugger" Museum hosted a presentation of the art work of
Raelee Frazier. The exhibit featured the hands of baseball's greatest
hitters holding their personally monogrammed "Louisville
Slugger" bats the same instruments these hitters used to
accumulate their outstanding hitting records in the Major Leagues.
These remarkable collectibles celebrate the accomplishments of
the great Hitters in baseball and the "Louisville Slugger"
bat has always been a major part of this story.
These life cast bronze sculptures
capture the touch, power, and detail of the great hitter's of
the game standing at the plate waiting for the next pitch. Each
piece is a masterful creation by the distinguished artist Raelee
Frazier of Highland Studio in Denver Colorado. The "Louisville
Slugger" bat has been an integral part of Raelee Frazier's
art since she began producing Hitter's hands.
The characteristic element that
distinguishes Hitter's Hands collectibles from other sports Memorabilia
is the fact that these art works bring a living part of the Baseball
Player into the collectible. In addition a signed and numbered
Certificate of Authenticity carries the players signature in ink
as well laser cut signatures on the customized "Louisville
Slugger" bat and the sculptures base. No other sports memorabilia
offers the collector three signatures associated with a single
item including a certificate of authenticity signed by the player
and artist.:
Hitter's Hands of the great Negro League Player John Jordan "Buck"
O'Neil
See recent article on exhibit "Shades of Greatness"
These bronze sculptures are incomparable examples
of sports memorabilia capturing the personality and distinguishing
features of each historic player's grip on a bat . Each sculpture
includes an inscribed Louisville slugger bat produced for the
player during his career. If a player has been inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame the year of his induction is inscribed on
the bat. In addition the base is walnut and inscribed by a laser
with the players signature.
Duke Snider, Willy Mays
and Stan Stan Musial
Each bronze edition is strictly limited to 36
items and each sculpture is accompanied with a certificate of
Authenticity telling when each piece was manufactured, the number
in the edition and signed by the player.
Highlands Studio has created bronze hands holding
the personally monogrammed Louisville Slugger bats of Baseball's
Greatest hitters.
The following baseball players exploits are commemorated
in limited edition bronzes that will be on display at the Museum:
"A
Show Of Hands"
April 3-Aug 31
Louisville
Slugger Museum,
800 West Main St. , Louisville , KY 40202
Sluggers
1."Double Duty" Radclifffe
(Pittsburgh Crawfords)
2. Stan Musial (St. Louis)
3. Ted Williams (Boston)
4. Sammy Sosa (Chicago)
5. Eddie Mathews (Boston)
6. Brooks Robinson (Baltimore)
7. Ernie Banks (Chicago)
8. Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia)
9. Johnny Bench (Cincinnati)
10."Buck" O'Neil (Kansas
City)
11. Billy Williams (Chicago)
12. Tony Gwynn (San Diego)
13. "Pee Wee" Reese
(Brooklyn)
14. Lou Brock (Chicago, St Louis)
15. Ralph Kiner (Pittsburgh)
16. Al Kaline (Detroit)
17."Duke Snider" (Brooklyn)
18. Joe Morgan (Cincinnati)
Pitchers
19. Greg Maddux (Atlanta)
20. Fergie Jenkins (Chicago)
21. Bob Gibson (St. Louis)
22. "Goose Gossage" (New
York)
