Louisville baseball from the DeLorean: 1946

October 22, 9:52 PMLouisville Bats ExaminerJason Stella

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Louisville Bats Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

I'm not sure if this was the real Louisville Colonels logo, but that's a sick mustache.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Louisville_Colonels

This will be our fifth trip in Dr. Emmitt Brown's time traveling DeLorean, with past trips allowing us to witness Louisville's first baseball championship, as well as see some well-known major leaguers in Louisville. Vince Coleman, Tom Pagnozzi, and Deion Sanders all stopped by Louisville somewhere along their baseball paths. This time, McFly and I aren't seeking out a particular player, but traveling to an era when the Louisville Colonels reeled off three consecutive championships as members of the eight-team American Association. Louisville's team was called the Colonels until 1982, when they became the Redbirds. After a three-year stint as the RiverBats from 1999-2001, the franchise shortened it to Bats in '02.

Louisville's string of titles began during the height of World War II in 1944, when the team was the double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Matched up against the St. Paul Saints, who were a farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Louisville took the series in five games.

In 1945, Louisville brought home the hardware once again, facing the same two playoff opponents, the Milwaukee Brewers in the semifinals, followed by St. Paul in the championship.

1946 saw Louisville move up to the triple-A level, where it has remained ever since. Moving up to a higher level didn't phase the Louisville franchise, as they swept the '46 pennant against the Indianapolis Indians, who are still a division rival today over 60 years later. In those days, Indy was the top farm club of the Boston Braves.

All info in this article is compiled from the Bats' media guide, as well a few websites, including the omnipotent baseball-reference.com. Stop back by for more DeLorean history lessons, as well as other mediocre stories to pass the time in the offseason.