国家地理:Louisville Slugger 棒球球棒

Branded on the American conscious and burned into the national psyche¹, since 1884 Louisville Slugger has been turning out bats for some of the best players in baseball. Today a museum surrounds the factory in downtown Louisville Kentucky. One version of slugger lore² has it that the first Louisville slugger was turned out by John Hillerich. One day a visiting pro-player, Pete Browning from the Louisville Eclipse³ Team came to town.

Hillerich was (was) playing hooky from work one day, and went to the game to watch the Eclipse play. And Pete broke his bat, and according to legend, anyway, er, he told Pete, or asked Pete to come down to a shop after the game -- He'd make a bat for him. So he turned a bat for him. And the next day Browning supposedly once again went 4-for-4 and that sort of started the trend.

And the tradition was born. The name Louisville Slugger became a registered trademark⁴, one of the oldest in the country. And almost immediately it was marketed with star power.

In those days sporting goods were sold through hardware stores and he would go up to these guys and say how would you like to sell the exact model that Honus Wagner uses and (and) exact in every detail. And so that was really the beginning of our success, and since that time, probably, er, I know over eighty percent of the hitters in the Hall of Fame were under contract to Louisville Slugger.

Nearly a million wood bats roll out of the Louisville plant each year with some 200,000 designed especially for professional baseball. But more important than even the trademark name, is what many players know as the sweet spot, carefully marked on each bat.

We brand it on the flat, ninety degrees off, so if you hold the bat up with the trademark facing up, no matter if you are a right or left-hand batter⁵, the strongest part of the bat is facing the pitcher⁶.

There are many exhibits at the museum but the main attraction is still the process that turns sticks of wood into wonders, where the boys of the summer can dream of base hits and grand slams and world series all year long.


psyche: The spirit or soul. 精神或灵魂
pitcher: 【棒球】The player who throws the ball from the mound⁷ to the batter. 投手

1 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。

2 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

3 eclipse   

v.使黯然失色，使相形见绌，日食，月食

参考例句：

• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。
• There will be an eclipse of the moon next month.下个月有月食。

4 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

5 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

6 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

7 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。