LOUISVILLE, KY and ST. LOUIS – Yesterday morning I took 20 cuts in a batting cage using the same model bat used by Ken Griffey Jr.

Tony and I woke up in Louisville, Ky. on Monday and started our week with a tour of the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, a building that just sort of pops up in the business district out of nowhere.

A guide, definitely schooled in the history of the game and the bat-making process, led us on a roughly 45-minute tour of the company’s history. The current employees helped out a lot too, as one guy demonstrated the old process for making a bat that included carving tool and lathe.

It used to take Louisville Slugger workers 30 minutes to carve a pro model bat. Now in the automated machines, they can do one in 30 seconds.  Lacquering and finishing pro model bats is still done by hand—they were working on an order for Alex Gordon while we were there.

After the tour we were able to look at several displays on the both the bat-making process and on the different styles of bats they’ve made for major league players over their 100+ years of being in the business.

After embarrassing ourselves in the cages at the Slugger museum, we made the four hour trek to St. Louis, to check out the new Busch Stadium in a Cardinals game versus the Reds.

To us, the new Busch Stadium ranks somewhere alongside Jacobs Field. I think aesthetically we both liked PNC Park in Pittsburgh a little better. And I know I still have Camden Yards and Coors Field at the top of my list of favorite parks.

But what makes the new Busch, and the city of St. Louis as a whole, stand out in a baseball crowd is the atmosphere at the ballpark. Fans appreciate the nuances of the game – several times they cheered sacrifice flies and sacrifice bunts as they scored runs and advanced runners.

Furthermore, they are respectful of the efforts of opponents as well. When Willy Taveras went flying face first into the centerfield wall in chasing a Matt Holliday drive Monday night, they remained silent while he was on the ground regaining his senses.

When Taveras got to his feet the crowd cheered. This didn’t seem to be just polite applause celebrating the fact that he was alright. It was loud, real applause for a guy who had sacrificed his body in an effort to make a play (though I’m sure it helped that he missed the catch and Holliday ended up on third base).

Maybe this would have happened in other places too – but I’ve heard good things about Cardinals fans in many cities I’ve been and they’ve never done anything to prove wrong any of the accolades. They are widely considered educated, good fans of the game and I each time I’ve been here I’ve felt they’ve earned that praise.

I’ve been to St. Louis for ballgames three times now – twice in the old park and once in the new building. The new Busch is definitely an upgrade but it also hasn’t turned these fans soft.

Anyway, the Cardinals’ 4-1 win Monday brings the professional baseball part of our week long tour to a close.  Today, we’re making our turn to the home stretch—but we do have one more stop to make—they built it, so we’re coming.