*CASEY Award Finalist 2024 for Best Baseball Book of the Year* * Foreword Indies Award Finalist 2024 for Book of the Year* Louis "Pete" Rogers Browning was one of the greatest baseball players of the nineteenth century. His skills with the bat made the difficult art of hitting a baseball appear easy. Over his thirteen-year career, he won three batting titles, finished in the top three nine times, and was one of the premodern era's greatest hitters. Browning is recognized as not only the namesake but also the genesis for the famed Louisville Slugger, as the Hillerich & Bradsby Company shaped the first ever custom-made bat based on his instructions. Browning's athletic prowess was overshadowed by his drunken adventures and struggles off the field. A champion consumer of bourbon and a man with obvious demons, he led a life littered with eccentricities. During games he refused to slide and often stood perched on one leg. Known as the Gladiator, he drank tabasco sauce, washed his eyes with buttermilk, and named bats after biblical characters, all in an effort to improve his hitting. Few were aware that, behind the comedic persona, Browning suffered from mastoiditis, a devastating physical ailment that robbed him of his hearing, deprived him of an education, eroded his professional skills, and led to his heavy dependence on alcohol. Accounts of Browning's unconventional behavior were bolstered by his own outlandish storytelling. These stories were embellished by newspapers of the time, making him a legend. Tim Newby addresses the myths surrounding the larger-than-life figure, uncovers the thin line between fact and fiction, and presents an extensive account of Browning―the man, and legendary ball player. "Tim's third book is a welcome and winning contribution to baseball history. In The Original Louisville Slugger , he masterfully recounts the life and baseball career of one of the best hitters of the 19th century, a deeply flawed but charismatic and pioneering figure whose influence, as Tim reminds us, is still felt today. His impeccable research and captivating storytelling allow Pete Browning, a person from the distant past, to come alive right before our very eyes."— Aaron Fischman, author of 2024 CASEY Award finalist A Baseball Gaijin: Chasing a Dream to Japan and Back "Pete Browning is an iconic outlaw from baseball's early wild years. He is vividly brought to life in all his hard living and hard swinging glory by Tim Newby in The Original Louisville Slugger . Through the story of Browning's life, insight into the baseball of that era and the tone of the times is revealed, and the essence and beautiful simplicity of baseball captured."― Jim Riggleman, former Major League Baseball (MLB) manager "An impressive feat of research about an underappreciated guy."― Brad Balukjian, bestselling author of The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife "Newby's storytelling, richly textured and endlessly evocative, seems to channel Pete Browning's spirit with uncanny precision in The Original Louisville Slugger. You can almost hear the crack of Browning's famed, biblically named bats and the murmur of 19th-century crowds in the background. Browning—iconic, eccentric, and utterly unforgettable—comes to life, not as a relic, but as a character of Shakespearean depth. His feats on the diamond, his tumultuous personal life, and his prodigious drinking are all captured with vivid detail; it feels as though Newby has uncovered not just a story, but a living, breathing man. For those curious about baseball's ragtime beginnings—or for anyone who simply appreciates a tale spun with both heart and finesse—this book is a treasure. It is a must-read for baseball romantics and enthusiasts alike."— Jessica Brand, Emmy award-winning, MLB researcher, historian, and statistician "Pete Browning, the original and inimitable Louisville Slugger, comes fully to life in this fast-paced, historically informed, and deeply researched book. Determined to uncover the real Browning, Tim Newby's nuanced and engaging biography takes full account of his subject's stunning propensity for self-promotion and drunken debauchery, his debilitating physical and mental demons, as well as his amazing hitting prowess during a short, but legendary twelve-year professional career. This is a must-read for every baseball and sports fan, as well as anyone interested in powerful, memorable human stories that are brilliantly told."― David Wrobel, Dean of the Stony Brook University College of Arts and Sciences; author of America's West: A History, 1890-1950 " A fascinating biography."— The Twin Bill literary journal "A very interesting tale."— Tim Hanlon, host of the Good Seats Still Avaliable podcast "Baseball is a game full of myths, legendary figures, and tragic stories. With this wonderfully woven biography of the original "Louisville Slugger," Tim Newby artfully combines all three." ―Lee Kluck, author of 2025 Seymou