History
In 1982, the St. Louis Cardinals switched their Triple-A 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 Triple-A 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 since 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.
Read more about this topic: Louisville Bats
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