From the Prelude

Louisville’s baseball heritage is wondrous and immense. Its first boxscore (under the rules of Hall–of–Famer Alexander Cartwright, the true father of baseball who some 150 years ago promulgated the basic rules the game still uses today) dates to 1858. It played against the historic Cincinnati Reds of 1869–1870, baseball’s first professional club. And, since the turn of the century (that timeframe including several brief hiatuses), Louisville has been a sanctuary of minor–league baseball.