Kentucky Bourbons
The Kentucky Bourbons were a professional softball team that played in several Men's Professional Softball Leagues from 1977 through 1982 at Bishop David Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.
In the 1977 APSPL season the Bourbons won the Central Division finishing eight games ahead of the Cleveland Jaybirds. The Bourbons' 40-16 (.714) record was the second best in the league behind only the 42-14 (.750) tally of the Midwest Division champion Detroit Caesars. Kentucky lost in the playoff semifinals to the East Division champion Baltimore Monuments, led by playoff MVP Johnny Dollar, 2 games to 1. Phil Schroer, Bill Gatti, Fred Miller and Don Rardin of the Bourbons made the all-league team. In 1978 the Bourbons finished with 30 wins and 34 losses (.469), ten games behind the Central Division champion Cincinnati Suds and failed to make the playoffs. Bill Gatti was the lone Kentucky representative on the 1978 All-APSPL team.
The 1979 squad finished with a league best regular season record of 48-15 (.762) and defeated the Trenton Champales 3-0 and the Rochester Zeniths 3-1 in the playoffs to advance to the APSPL World Series. Games were featured on the new start-up sports network ESPN with the Bourbons losing the series 5-2 to the Milwaukee Schlitz behind league and World Series MVP Rick Weiterman. Don Rardin and Bill Gatti made the all-league team. In 1980 the Bourbons were the APSPL regular season best with a record of 49-13 (.790) but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Pittsburgh Hardhats 3-2.
The APSPL teams combined with the NASL in 1981 to the United Professional Softball League (UPSL). The Bourbons edged into the playoff with a 36-24 (.600) and a third-place Western Division finish and beat the Schlitz 3-0 and the Cincinnati Suds 3-2. Kentucky would win the first UPSL World Series defeating the Boston Pilgrims 5 games to 3. Bourbon Greg Whitlock was the MVP of the 1981 World Series and Bill Gatti was the league MVP, winning the triple crown of home runs (38), RBIs (99) and batting average (.622). Steve Stewart, Greg Whitlock and Dave Whitlock made the all-UPSL squad with Bourbon manager Cobbie Harrison.
In 1982 the Bourbons won the Western Division with a 38-23 (.623) record, but lost in the playoff semifinals to the Milwaukee Schlitz, 3-2. The Schlitz went on to win the World Series 5-2 over the Detroit Auto Kings. Bill Gatti, Greg Whitlock and Ken Parker represented Kentucky on the all-league team. The UPSL folded after the conclusion of the 1982 season and neither Louisville nor any other city in the United States has fielded a professional softball team since. The demise of the Bourbons coincided with the arrival of AAA minor league baseball with the Louisville Redbirds who went on to set records for minor league baseball attendance.