LOUISVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56) – When you walk into the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory you’re greeted by the smell of fresh carved wood.

Andrew Soliday is the marketing director at Louisville Slugger, he said the world-famous factory makes around two million baseball bats a year, but only a small percentage make it to the big leagues.

“We make about 30,000 bats for the major leagues in this factory where we’re standing right here,” Soliday said.

It all begins in the woods of upstate Pennsylvania. Where they have their own forest and sawmills.

“We are one of the only bat makers that has that luxury,” Soliday said.

There are several steps the bats go through before they can hit one out of the park.

They’re carved, sanded, dipped in finish, painted, and then the art and decals are applied before they get shipped out.

“At the end of the day I call this a handmade artisan project,” Soliday said.

That artisanship doesn’t go unnoticed.

Players on The Big Red Machine such as Joe Morgan, Dave Concepción, and George Foster all swung slugger.

This season Reds players like Jake Fraley and Tyler Stephenson will step up to the plate swinging a freshly made bat.

“We have at least one player of every major league team using a Louisville Slugger bat,” Soliday said.