One would expect Kentucky’s Louisville Slugger Museum to have more bats than a Bela Lugosi movie, but its 12-page catalog and Web site (www.sluggergifts.com) take variations on the item to an extreme.
As many museums do, the Louisville Slugger house has put its logo on everything solid enough to bear it, including picture frames, shot glasses, yo-yos, blankets and neckties.
Sure, some of the items stretch the conceit: A “Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t Do” T-shirt has its roots in a women’s ice hockey league. But for its single-minded devotion to a niche product – bats, for crying out loud-we tip our well-worn Washington Senators cap to it.
The catalog is light on official Major League Baseball items: With the exception of teams’ logos engraved into the bats, their presence is minimal.
Players, though, are not. While Hall of Famers (Johnny Bench, Babe Ruth) are featured on some of the museum’s commemorative offerings, current fan favorites such as Jeff Bagwell, Tony Gwynn, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez are given their due.
This is smart.
The worst thing in the world would be to present a “classic” Mickey Mantle bat to a niece or nephew, only to hear the devastating words, “Mickey who?”
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