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 Louisville Bats Tickets rights for the stadium were purchased by Hillerich & Bradsby, Louisville Bats Tickets makers of the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat.
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 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. As the league changed, the Cardinals moved their old AAA affiliate to Memphis, Tennessee and the team became the Memphis Redbirds. 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 Louisville Bats Tickets 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 Louisville Bats Tickets 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 Louisville Bats Tickets mascot consist of the winged mammal, the bat is also synonymous with the Louisville Slugger baseball bat.
