Buddy Bat, the mascot for Louisville’s Triple-A baseball team, had a business trip of his own June 10 while the Bats were on the road for a series against the Iowa Cubs.
Buddy traveled to Washington, D.C., to hear Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, and other House representatives speak on the economic impact minor league clubs have on their communities. While members of the Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development discussed the developments of their local teams, Buddy and other minor league mascots sat amongst the spectators. The legislators were also joined by business leaders in the sport, including Pat Battle, the executive chairman of Diamond Baseball Holdings, the ownership group of the Louisville Bats.
At one point during the hearing, McGarvey and Battle discussed the Louisville Sports Entertainment District, a $250 million development area surrounding Louisville Slugger Field. Officials from Diamond Baseball Holdings announced plans to bring in new housing, hotels and businesses to the site in December 2024.
“We’ve talked about a $250 million investment in building a condominium, hotel, entertainment district, all of the things that we think will continue to energize that part of Louisville and we couldn’t be more excited to do that,” Battle said.
McGarvey brought miniature Louisville Slugger bats to the meeting to show how baseball is “key to Louisville’s identity.” He later played in the June 11 Congressional Baseball Game while wearing a Bellarmine baseball uniform in honor of his high school friend, BJ Treece, a former Knights pitcher who died from cancer in 2014, a spokesperson for his office said in a statement.
Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@gannett.com or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Why was Buddy Bat in Washington this week? Mascot joins Rep. McGarvey