Changes in store for the Louisville Bats in 2021, on and off the field

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Bats Executive Vice President Greg Galiette was eager to get the 2020 season underway. And then the COVID-19 pandemic shut it all down before the Bats could ever take the field.

"My heart was broken last year when we didn’t get a chance to play that season, because on paper, last year, we looked like we were going to have a really strong ball club, because the Reds looked so good,” Galiette said. “It looked like most of those guys would get filtered on down to Louisville. Pat Kelly, who was going to be our manager last year, he and I just cried in our beer in April.”

Fast forward now to December, where the Bats are hoping the 2021 baseball season not only plays out different but actually plays.

“We’re very confident we will be back and playing,” Galiette said. “Will it be 50% capacity? Full capacity? A lot of that is going to depend where the vaccine is at the time, how Gov. Beshear feels about having folks in outdoor seating venues. So we will cross that bridge when we get to it.”

When (or if) fans are back in Slugger Field this year, they’ll find nearly $8 million worth of upgrades, including expanded berm and patio areas, additional video boards, new bars and even new rows of theatre-style seating behind home plate.

“These people will actually be sitting closer to the catcher than the catcher will be to the pitcher," Galiette said.

The construction was originally slated to be completed in 2022, but if there is a silver lining to the pandemic, it’s that with baseball canceled, the construction could go on.

“With the COVID virus and us not playing baseball, the construction just moved along uninterrupted all spring and summer and into the fall," Galiette said. "So we’re actually way ahead of schedule. We should have everything wrapped up by the middle of summer.”

Galiette expects the schedule for the 2021 season to come sometime in January. And with it, possibly some unfamiliar opponents.

“It’s just a matter of time before we get that schedule, which may see us playing some new ball clubs, teams that we haven't played in the past," Galiette said. "Some of our future opponents may be based on geography, how close they are to Louisville. So we might start playing the Nashvilles and the Memphises of the world.”