On Sept. 29, 1859, more than a year and a half before the first shots of the Civil War echoed at Fort Sumter, Louisville’s Courier-Journal featured an advertisement from Chatfield & Root’s variety store on 4th Street announcing it had “base balls” in stock. That notice marked the first reference that Kentucky officially had caught the baseball fever that was sweeping the nation, signaling the dawn of the sport’s presence in the Bluegrass State. This marked the beginning of Kentucky’s storied relationship with baseball, which has endured for more than a century and a half.
By 1867, the landscape of Kentucky was dotted with organized community baseball teams. Some of the earliest references to these clubs were in cities such as Louisville, Lexington, Paducah, Frankfort and Georgetown. This burgeoning interest in baseball reflected a nationwide trend that saw the sport rapidly rise in popularity after the Civil War. The baseball diamond became a familiar sight in many Kentucky towns, fostering local rivalries and community pride.
The landscape of the sport changed drastically in 1869, when the Cincinnati Red Stockings fielded the first team of paid professional players, setting a precedent that would define the future of baseball. This shift underscored the game’s evolution from a pastime to the professional sport we know today.
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In December 1875, Louisville found itself at the epicenter of baseball history. The Galt House hosted pivotal meetings that led to the formation of the National League, the first major league in baseball history. This new league initially consisted of eight teams hailing from New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Hartford, Connecticut, marking the beginning of a new era in the sport. These meetings were crucial in shaping the structure and governance of professional baseball, laying the groundwork for the sport’s future.
The Louisville Grays, owned by Courier-Journal publisher Walter Newman Haldeman, debuted in 1876. Playing at the aptly named Louisville Baseball Park, situated where St. James Court stands today, the Grays finished their inaugural season in fifth place with a 30-36 record. The team roster included 16 players, among them 16-year-old Frank Pearce, who remains the youngest player ever to play his final major league game. The Grays’ games drew enthusiastic crowds, reflecting the community’s growing passion for the sport.
In 1877, the Grays returned with an even stronger team and led the league standings by August. However, a devastating nine-game winless streak allowed Boston to overtake them, relegating Louisville to second place. In the aftermath, club vice president Charles E. Chase claimed to have received a telegram with information about some of his players. His ensuing investigation would allege that four players had been throwing games, marking the first gambling scandal in major league history. (In his 2024 book The Louisville Grays and the Myth of Baseball’s First Great Scandal, Louisville attorney Wendell Lloyd Jones concludes that the accepted history about the scandal—that Louisville players threw games to benefit gamblers—is not true.) The scandal ultimately led to the Grays’ demise and cast a dark shadow over the sport’s integrity. The investigation and its fallout were significant in baseball’s early history, underscoring the need for stricter oversight.
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For five years, Kentucky was without a professional team until 1882, when the Louisville Eclipse, a reputable semi-pro team, joined the American Association, which is considered to be the second major league. The Eclipse enjoyed winning seasons in their first three years, demonstrating competitive play and drawing strong support. Their games were a source of local pride and excitement, once again solidifying Louisville’s place in baseball history.
In 1885, the team was rebranded as the Louisville Colonels. The Colonels experienced middling success for four seasons before suffering an abysmal 27-111-2 record in 1889. A new ownership group took over the following season and turned things around dramatically, with the team finishing with an impressive 88-44-4 record and winning the league pennant. In the post-season, they faced the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, the National League champions, in an early version of the World Series. The Colonels would end as co-champions after a closely contested 3-3-1 series. This achievement was a high point for the Colonels and for professional baseball in Kentucky.
After the 1891 season, the American Association folded, and the Colonels, along with three other teams, joined the National League. Following this move, the Colonels never again enjoyed a winning record and often found themselves in last place. Even with three future Hall of Famers on their roster, the 1899 season marked their last, as they finished 28 games out of first place. Team owner Barney Dreyfuss then purchased the Pittsburgh Pirates and consolidated the two teams at the city farther up the Ohio River. This consolidation would end Kentucky’s status as the home of a major league baseball team.
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While devoid of major league baseball for more than a century, Kentucky has established a rich tradition of minor league baseball. These minor league teams have kept the spirit of baseball alive in the state, providing entertainment and fostering community spirit.
Kentucky teams featured prominently in two early Class D leagues. The Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League, affectionately known as the KITTY League, was formed in 1903 and featured several teams in the western portion of the state. The Blue Grass League, centered around Central Kentucky, began in 1908. Both leagues faced financial difficulties and intermittently missed seasons through the years, with the Blue Grass League folding in 1924 and the KITTY League in 1955. Future Hall of Famer Casey Stengel (inducted as a manager) and Tony Kubek, a shortstop for the New York Yankees who went on to greater fame as a broadcaster, began their illustrious careers in these leagues.
While minor league teams were sporadic in other parts of Kentucky, Louisville usually has had a team since the Colonels folded. The city has hosted teams with names like the second iteration of the Colonels, the Redbirds, the RiverBats and, currently, the Bats.
Today, Kentucky boasts four minor league teams. The Louisville Bats are the AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, playing at Louisville Slugger Field, a ballpark that pays homage to the state’s rich baseball heritage. The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Lexington Legends, playing in the Atlantic League, and the Florence Y’alls, members of the Frontier League, are in MLB “partner leagues” but not affiliated with a single major league club.
Kentucky’s baseball story is one of early adoption, exemplary talent, passionate fans and a resilient love for the game that continues to inspire and entertain. From the early days of local teams to the enduring presence of rising stars on minor league clubs, baseball remains an integral part of our Commonwealth’s fabric.
Kentucky Baseball Timeline
1875 | Club owners meet in Louisville to begin talks that will lead to the formation of the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs.
1884 | Louisville Eclipse star Pete Browning asks 17-year-old John Andrew “Bud” Hillerich to craft a bat for him at his father’s thriving Louisville woodworking shop, and a brand is born.
1899 | Hall of Fame outfielder Earle Combs, whose future teammates with the New York Yankees will include Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, is born in Pebworth (Madison County).
1920 | New York Yankees pitcher Carl Mays, born in Liberty (Casey County), hits Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman, a native of Beaver Dam (Ohio County), in the head with a pitch. Chapman died the next day—the only time in major league history that a player was killed as a result of an on-field injury.
1940 | Hall of Fame shortstop Harold “Pee Wee” Reese, born in 1918 in Ekron (Meade County), makes his major league debut on April 23 for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1964 | Southgate (Campbell County) native Jim Bunning pitches a perfect game for the Philadelphia Phillies against the New York Mets. Bunning goes on to compile 224 wins and earn a berth in the Hall of Fame.
1982 | The Louisville Redbirds set a minor-league attendance record with 868,418 fans in their first season after owner A. Ray Smith moved the team from Springfield, Illinois. The Redbirds will top that with more than 1 million fans the following season.
2002 | Valley Sports of Pleasure Ridge Park (Jefferson County) wins the Little League World Series, defeating Sendai Higashi of Japan, 1-0, in the championship game.
2006 | Coming out of retirement, Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens pitches three innings of one-run ball for the Lexington Legends in front of an overflow crowd of more than 9,000 at what then was called Applebee’s Park.
2006 | Brandon Webb wins the National League Cy Young Award after going 16-8 with a 3.10 earned-run average for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Webb, a native of Ashland (Boyd County), will finish second in the NL Cy Young voting the next two seasons before injuries end his career.
2007 | The University of Louisville advances to the College World Series for the first of five times with a 20-2 rout of Oklahoma State.
2009 | The Bowling Green Hot Rods play their first game in front of a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 7,000 at Bowling Green Ballpark.
2024 | University of Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione is named the National Coach of the Year for the second time after guiding UK to its first appearance in the College World Series.