Louisville Slugger Furloughs 171 Workers After Closing Factory, Museum

The Louisville Slugger Museum and factory is facing a difficult time amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 16, Hillerich & Bradsby, the company which makes the wooden bats, announced its museum was closed until further notice. The Associated Press (h/t NBC Sports) noted the factory closed on March 19, and the 120-foot baseball bat outside the museum features a banner saying "Flatten the Curve."

With no visitors to the museum and no bats being produced with Major League Baseball's season on hiatus, Hillerich & Bradsby CEO John Hillerich said 171 employees have been furloughed, per Alfred Miller of the Louisville Courier Journal.

"We're not doing any advertising," Hillerich said while noting the company's remaining workforce took a 25 percent pay cut. "We've cut all our expenses we can. We're just hoping we get back to normal before we run out of cash."

Miller noted the company makes approximately 50,000 wooden bats a year just for MLB alone, and the logs waiting in inventory may spoil if production doesn't return in the near future.