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The Louisville Bats launched a new secondary logo last month ahead of the team's 25th season of baseball at Louisville Slugger Field.
The design pulls inspiration from the city of Louisville, the commonwealth of Kentucky and the logo the team used during the RiverBats era.
Despite cycling through a few names since its inception, the team's mascot — Buddy Bat — has stuck around for more than a quarter century. Louisville Bats President Greg Galiette thinks it might be the most popular mascot in Louisville, topping even the University of Louisville's Louie the Cardinal, though he admits he's probably biased in his assessment.
The name's double reference to the flying mammal and the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat is clever. But how was it chosen, and was the double entendre achieved on purpose?
Naming the team in reference to the Louisville Slugger brand seems like an obvious decision for management to make, but the decision was actually placed in "the hands of the fans" through a random draw at one point, Galiette said.
The Bats came to Louisville in 1982 as the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Back then the team was known as the Redbirds.
When the Cardinals moved their Triple-A team to Memphis, the Redbirds stuck around in Louisville and became the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1998.
Major League Baseball let the club retain the Redbirds name for one season after it parted ways with the St. Louis Cardinals, so the team held a contest ahead of the 1999 season to select its new name, Galiette said.
The winning name was drawn from a pool of roughly 10,000 entries, according to an archived report from The Courier Journal. Rachel Maloney, an 11-year-old girl at the time, submitted the winning entry.
"We're on a river, and I like bats," she told the newspaper.
The team debuted the RiverBats logo — a flying mammal, donning a baseball cap and swinging a baseball bat — thereafter.
Despite the RiverBats name being the product of a chance draw, club officials appreciated the dual meaning of the name. Former team Chairman Dan Ulmer and President Gary Ulmer both liked that the name could be tied to the city's bat-making history and that it acknowledged Louisville’s riverside location, according to the archived report.
And while Maloney's entry won, she wasn't alone in her idea. About 20 other people submitted entries suggesting the RiverBats name, The Courier Journal reported. It was likely a popular suggestion because of the legacy left by the Louisville RiverFrogs, a team that competed in the East Coast Hockey League from 1995-1998, Galiette said.
Galiette also noted that many people wanted the team to be named the "Sluggers" — a direct reference to the baseball bat brand — but the name was off limits because of its trademark.
"That name really wasn't for use," he said. "This is about as close as we could get to the baseball bat."
In 2000, the same year Louisville Slugger Field opened, the team transitioned its affiliation to the Cincinnati Reds.
A few years later in 2002, the team dropped "River" from the name to become the Bats. The move was made in the same vein as the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association shortening their name from the Knickerbockers, Galiette said.
Apart from some logo and color scheme changes, the Bats have kept the same name and mascot since then.
This season, the team launched a new secondary logo that pays homage to Kentucky and Louisville in honor of the 25th season of baseball at Louisville Slugger Field. The stadium opened in 2000, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the 2020 season, making the 2025 season the team's 25th true season playing at the stadium, Galiette said.
In a nod to the original RiverBats logo, the new logo shows the mascot with his wings spread, grasping a baseball bat in his claws and wearing a cap.
The shape of Kentucky is subtly depicted in the logo's negative space between the bottom of Buddy Bat's wing and the baseball bat. A fleur-de-lis, the emblem of the city of Louisville, is also camouflaged with Buddy Bat's claws.
The logo will adorn the team's batting-practice caps this season, and the team plans to expand its use over the next few seasons, Galiette said.
"You'll start seeing it more and more as we go forward over the next year to two years on various types of merchandise," he said.
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at [email protected] or @bkillian72 on X.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Bats new secondary logo and history of the team's mascot
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The design pulls inspiration from the city of Louisville, the commonwealth of Kentucky and the logo the team used during the RiverBats era.
Despite cycling through a few names since its inception, the team's mascot — Buddy Bat — has stuck around for more than a quarter century. Louisville Bats President Greg Galiette thinks it might be the most popular mascot in Louisville, topping even the University of Louisville's Louie the Cardinal, though he admits he's probably biased in his assessment.
The name's double reference to the flying mammal and the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat is clever. But how was it chosen, and was the double entendre achieved on purpose?
Naming the team in reference to the Louisville Slugger brand seems like an obvious decision for management to make, but the decision was actually placed in "the hands of the fans" through a random draw at one point, Galiette said.
Name changes over the years
The Bats came to Louisville in 1982 as the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Back then the team was known as the Redbirds.
When the Cardinals moved their Triple-A team to Memphis, the Redbirds stuck around in Louisville and became the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1998.
Major League Baseball let the club retain the Redbirds name for one season after it parted ways with the St. Louis Cardinals, so the team held a contest ahead of the 1999 season to select its new name, Galiette said.
The winning name was drawn from a pool of roughly 10,000 entries, according to an archived report from The Courier Journal. Rachel Maloney, an 11-year-old girl at the time, submitted the winning entry.
"We're on a river, and I like bats," she told the newspaper.
The team debuted the RiverBats logo — a flying mammal, donning a baseball cap and swinging a baseball bat — thereafter.
Despite the RiverBats name being the product of a chance draw, club officials appreciated the dual meaning of the name. Former team Chairman Dan Ulmer and President Gary Ulmer both liked that the name could be tied to the city's bat-making history and that it acknowledged Louisville’s riverside location, according to the archived report.
And while Maloney's entry won, she wasn't alone in her idea. About 20 other people submitted entries suggesting the RiverBats name, The Courier Journal reported. It was likely a popular suggestion because of the legacy left by the Louisville RiverFrogs, a team that competed in the East Coast Hockey League from 1995-1998, Galiette said.
Galiette also noted that many people wanted the team to be named the "Sluggers" — a direct reference to the baseball bat brand — but the name was off limits because of its trademark.
"That name really wasn't for use," he said. "This is about as close as we could get to the baseball bat."
In 2000, the same year Louisville Slugger Field opened, the team transitioned its affiliation to the Cincinnati Reds.
A few years later in 2002, the team dropped "River" from the name to become the Bats. The move was made in the same vein as the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association shortening their name from the Knickerbockers, Galiette said.
Apart from some logo and color scheme changes, the Bats have kept the same name and mascot since then.
New logo for 25th anniversary of baseball at Slugger Field
This season, the team launched a new secondary logo that pays homage to Kentucky and Louisville in honor of the 25th season of baseball at Louisville Slugger Field. The stadium opened in 2000, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the 2020 season, making the 2025 season the team's 25th true season playing at the stadium, Galiette said.
In a nod to the original RiverBats logo, the new logo shows the mascot with his wings spread, grasping a baseball bat in his claws and wearing a cap.
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The shape of Kentucky is subtly depicted in the logo's negative space between the bottom of Buddy Bat's wing and the baseball bat. A fleur-de-lis, the emblem of the city of Louisville, is also camouflaged with Buddy Bat's claws.
The logo will adorn the team's batting-practice caps this season, and the team plans to expand its use over the next few seasons, Galiette said.
"You'll start seeing it more and more as we go forward over the next year to two years on various types of merchandise," he said.
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at [email protected] or @bkillian72 on X.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Bats new secondary logo and history of the team's mascot
Continue reading...
