By: Bill Doolittle
Photos By: Louisville Bats
Louisville Bats manager Pat Kelly takes his regular spot at the home plate end of the Bats dugout at Louisville Slugger Field. He’s the big guy, No. 33, barrel chested, powerful arms – standing tall and resting his old catcher’s hands on the top rail of the dugout fence. Taking in the game. A word to a player headed to the plate, an instruction to an infielder. Maybe a little help for the umpire – you know, when the need arises. But mostly seeing everything. Knowing what to do. Looking every bit the part of manager of a professional baseball team.
This is Kelly’s 25th year as a minor league manager. A former player, with just a cup of coffee in the big leagues, but a long career coaching and managing minor league ball teams. From Billings, in the Pioneer League, to Reno and Rockford and Richmond. North to Ottawa. South to Pensacola. Now nicely ensconced at Triple A level Louisville – where he is greatly appreciated by fans, and highly valued in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Which, by the way, is going pretty good right now. It’s Kelly’s job to mold the talent coming up through the organization and send them on to the majors. That happened perfectly last season, as no less than six young prospects arrived in Louisville, set the club on fire, and went right on to the majors, shooting a lightning bolt charge through the Reds. It was the first winning season for the Bats in a decade, and almost the only one for Cincinnati in even longer. Elly De La Cruz, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Matt McLain, Andrew Abbott, and more. They hit, they fielded, and they blazed over the basepaths at Slugger Field and Great American Ballpark. The crew, famously led by shortstop sensation Elly De La Cruz, caught baseball’s eye when they arrived in Louisville, and kept everyone mesmerized in Cincinnati. And nobody loved it more than Kelly.
“It was just a magical year,” says Kelly. “McLain started with us, but then we got De La Cruz, Marte, Abbott … they just kept coming, and then they left us, and they never missed a beat. It’s just a fantastic thing to watch, and probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing. All those guys who came through here, they’re going to be up there for a while, which is really exciting.”
And, Kelly says, the talent may keep coming. The Bats presently have a few new players, with more at Cincinnati’s Double-A team in Chattanooga, and some just coming into the game at Single A Dayton. No. 1 draft pick Rhett Lowder, a right-handed pitcher out of Wake Forest, for example, is just getting started at Dayton, but could rise quickly.
“The talent in Chattanooga is pitching,” says Kelly. “There’s some really good arms, that as the summer goes along, we’ll probably see. And they’re very close to helping in Cincinnati.”
The death (hopefully) of the manly strikeout
As the season begins, Louisville pitchers have done well, particularly relievers, keeping the games close for Bats batsmen to put together winning rallies.
“I just think we’re different this season,” says Kelly. “Last year we had tremendous hitting. We just tried to outscore everybody.”
Which made for a raft of 13-2 games – some 13-2 winning, some 13-2 losing. In 2024, the scores are closer. The games tighter. The other day the Bats won one on a wild pitch in the 10th inning. A close, tense game. Won suddenly.
“I want to see how it all plays out,” says Kelly. “Last year we set all kinds of offensive records, but I don’t think we have the same offense right now. So, we may have to play a little ‘small ball,’ which I think is the way the game is going, anyway.”
“Small ball” is the baseball art of “manufacturing runs” – carving out a run at a time. Less home runs and less manly strikeouts. More putting plays on and stealing bases.
Kelly says the trend began last year and spread through the International League. “More stolen bases. More bunts. I think the game is adapting.”
Toss in a few double plays and runners getting thrown out at the plate, and the game contains more action for fans. Less strikeouts by medium- frame men trying to hit monster sized home runs.
Perseverance
A faster game will be fine with Louisville Bats outfielder Blake Dunn, who has speed – and knows how to use it.
“I want to do something every single day that’s going to help us win,” says the blond-bearded outfielder from Saugatuck, Michigan. “It’s tough in baseball, you’re not going to get a hit every single day. But my goal is to compete in the (batters) box. Fight as long as I can. I hate striking out.”
“But I also know that I can help win on the defensive end,” Dunn adds. “Take away as many hits and runs as I can with my speed and glove. Win some games by getting walks, stealing bases, scoring runs.” It was Blake who raced home to win that 10th-inning game on a wild pitch.
Last year, the Cincinnati Reds led the majors with 190 stolen bases, and through the first month of 2024 continue to lead in steals.
“That’s kind of what our organization preaches,” says Dunn. “We want to be aggressive. We want to steal bases.”
So far, the Bats haven’t stolen that many. But they’ve gotten good hitting from outfielder Conner Capel, second baseman Levi Jordan and designated hitter Mike Ford to put some runs on the board. And the pitching has been steady.
Which could be enough for a baseball-wise skipper like Kelly. At 68, he’s fourth among active minor league managers in victories, beginning the season with 1,955 wins. Sometime this summer he’ll reach 2,000.
“It’ll be a fun accomplishment, and I like round numbers,” Kelly says with a laugh. “But I think it shows perseverance, which I’ve always preached to players. Just to be involved in that many games, it shows how much perseverance means, and what the game is all about.”
Take me out to the ballgame!
The Bats generally play at home for a week, then away a week -- Tuesday through Sunday in the International League schedule. Louisville’s first home series in May is with Indianapolis, May 7-12.
The next Dog Day at the Park is Thursday, May 9, gametime 6:30 pm. Tickets purchased online at batsbaseball.com are $10 per human, $3 for dog – with the $3 donated to the Kentucky Humane Society.