1908 Nashville Vols | |
---|---|
Southern Association champions | |
League | Southern Association |
Ballpark | Sulphur Dell |
City | Nashville, Tennessee |
Record | 75–56 (.573) |
League place | 1st |
President | Ferdinand E. Kuhn |
Manager | Bill Bernhard |
The 1908 Nashville Vols season was the 15th season of minor league baseball in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Nashville Vols' 8th season in the Southern Association. [1] The Vols finished the previous season in last place, but this year won the league pennant, by defeating he New Orleans Pelicans 1-0 on the last day of the season in a game dubbed by Grantland Rice "The Greatest Game Ever Played In Dixie." [2] [3] [4]
This is also the season Rice dubbed the ballpark Sulphur Dell. [5] The team's player-manager was Bill Bernhard. [6] [7] The team featured just two players from Tennessee: Pryor McElveen and Hub Perdue. First baseman Jake Daubert led the league in home runs with six. [8]
The Vols finished last place in the Southern Association in 1907. A new group of men purchased the team, including Ferdinand E. Kuhn, James B. Carr, Thomas James Tyne, J. T. Connor, James A. Bowling, Robert L. Bolling, Rufus E. Fort, and William G. Hirsig. Well known attorney S. A. Champion supplied legal services. The group envisioned an ambitious project of stadium renovations at Sulphur Dell, and managed to cull $50,000. Kuhn was selected to head the Board of Directors. [9] He went on a trip to Ponce de Leon Park in Atlanta to observe a modern park and plan renovations. [10]
Kuhn hired Bill Bernhard as manager.
1908 Game Log (75–56) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April (4–6)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
May (11–12)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
June (15–10)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
July (16–9)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
August (17–12)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
September (13–6)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Legend: = Win = Loss = No decision Bold = Vols team member Reference: [11] |
Sportswriter and Vanderbilt baseball coach Grantland Rice accompanied the team to Atlanta. President Kuhn ordered a line score hung up on a slate board outside Sulphur Dell, for local fans to follow the game. [12]
On June 15, team captain Mike McCormick had a heated exchange with fans and ultimately abandoned the team. [13]
Despite this, the Vols changed the team and went on a winning streak as a result. On June 20 in an 8–0 win over Montgomery, Butler hit a then-rare, outside-the-park home run. [14]
The seventeen-inning game on July 9 against Mobile was declared a tie. Both pitchers received praise, and Hamilton Love wrote Perdue "has done more than any one man to hold up the team." [15]
On August 7, Southern Association rookie Sitton debuted against the Crackers, winning a close game 2–1 and striking out eight. [16]
On September 3, Hub Perdue pitched a shutout until the final inning, when he let a run across. He then insisted on pitching the second game of a doubleheader, and pitched a shut-out win.[ citation needed ]
On September 10, Nashville's John Duggan pitched a no-hitter, the second in team history, against the Little Rock Travelers at Sulphur Dell. Only two Little Rock batters reached base, one via walk and another on a fielding error. Nashville's Pryor McElveen, who had earlier misplayed the ball at third, drove in Doc Wiseman in the sixth inning for the only run of the game, a 1–0 win. [17] [18]
According to one account, "By one run, by one point, Nashville has won the Southern League pennant, nosing New Orleans out literally by an eyelash. Saturday's game, which was the deciding one, between Nashville and New Orleans was the greatest exhibition of the national game ever seen in the south and the finish in the league race probably sets a record in baseball history". [19]
Carl Sitton's spitball defeated Ted Breitenstein 1–0 in the "Greatest Game". [20] Sitton pitched a complete-game, nine-strikeout, four-hit, shutout.
Nashville scored in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, catcher Ed Hurlburt hit a single. Then Sitton did too. Harry "Deerfoot" Bay bunted perfectly down the third base line to load the bases, Bay's fondest memory in his long baseball career. [21] Doc Wiseman then drove in the winning run. Sitton was thrown out at home after Hurlburt scored. [21] The time of the game was one hour and forty-two minutes. [2]
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nashville Vols | 75 | 56 | .573 | — |
New Orleans Pelicans | 76 | 57 | .571 | — |
Memphis Egyptians | 73 | 62 | .541 | 4 |
Montgomery Senators | 68 | 65 | .511 | 8 |
Mobile Sea Gulls | 67 | 67 | .500 | 91⁄2 |
Atlanta Crackers | 63 | 72 | .467 | 14 |
Little Rock Travelers | 62 | 76 | .449 | 161⁄2 |
Birmingham Barons | 53 | 82 | .393 | 24 |
Team | ATL | BIR | LR | MEM | MOB | MTG | NAS | NO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlanta | — | 11–8 | 12–8 | 9–10 | 7–12 | 10–10 | 6–13 | 8–11 |
Birmingham | 9–11 | — | 11–9 | 7–13 | 10–9 | 6–12 | 9–10 | 2–18 |
Little Rock | 8–12 | 9–11 | — | 10–9 | 11–9 | 8–12 | 9–10 | 7–13 |
Memphis | 10–9 | 3–7 | 9–10 | — | 12–9 | 10–9 | 8–11 | 11–7 |
Mobile | 12–7 | 9–10 | 9–11 | 9–12 | — | 11–7 | 6–12 | 11–8 |
Montgomery | 10–10 | 12–6 | 12–8 | 9–10 | 7–11 | — | 10–9 | 8–11 |
Nashville | 13–6 | 10–9 | 10–9 | 11–8 | 12–6 | 9–10 | — | 10–8 |
New Orleans | 11–8 | 18–2 | 13–7 | 7–11 | 8–11 | 11–8 | 8–10 | — |
Twenty-four players competed for the Vols over the course of the season. [24] Of these, Daubert, Butler, Wiseman, Perdue, and Sitton were named by Nashville Banner sportswriters Fred Russell and George Leonard to an all-time team consisting of top Nashville players from 1901 to 1919. [25]
1908 Nashville Vols | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roster | |||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
| Outfielders
| Manager |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging percentage; SB = Stolen bases
Batting order [lower-alpha 1] | Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | AVG | SLG | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LF | Harry Bay | 103 | 415 | 45 | 112 | .270 | .289 | 19 |
7 | SS | Kid Butler | 136 | 480 | 36 | 127 | .265 | .321 | 13 |
6 | 1B | Jake Daubert | 138 | 473 | 49 | 124 | .262 | .368 | 13 |
3 | 2B | Walter East | |||||||
4 | 3B | Pryor McElveen | 138 | 514 | 66 | 146 | .284 | .372 | 15 |
5 | CF | Johnny Siegle | 122 | 428 | 52 | 114 | .266 | .339 | 16 |
2 | RF | Doc Wiseman | 138 | 525 | 77 | 132 | .251 | .301 | 30 |
Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | AVG | SLG | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CF | Al Decker | |||||||
C | Jack Hardy | 60 | 194 | 22 | 40 | .206 | .289 | 12 |
C | Ed Hurlburt | |||||||
3B | Henry Jansing | |||||||
SS | Mike McCormick | 48 | 173 | 16 | 45 | .260 | .283 | 12 |
C | Warren Seabough | 96 | 334 | 16 | 90 | .269 | .290 | 5 |
Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | AVG | SLG | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Bill Bernhard | 15 | 51 | 2 | 10 | .196 | .216 | 0 |
P | John Duggan | 33 | 97 | 6 | 17 | .175 | .186 | 0 |
P/IF | John Hess | 7 | 19 | 0 | 4 | .211 | .211 | 1 |
P/OF | George Hunter | 60 | 201 | 33 | 53 | .264 | .333 | 18 |
P | Win Kellum | 26 | 78 | 10 | 14 | .179 | .218 | 0 |
P | Hub Perdue | 34 | 101 | 8 | 16 | .158 | .168 | 0 |
P | Carl Sitton | 10 | 33 | 2 | 6 | .182 | .182 | 0 |
P | Stan Yerkes | 6 | 12 | 0 | 3 | .250 | .250 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; W% = Winning percentage
Player | G | W | L | W% |
---|---|---|---|---|
John Duggan | 34 | 19 | 12 | .613 |
Win Kellum | 24 | 15 | 9 | .625 |
Hub Perdue | 32 | 16 | 12 | .571 |
Player | G | W | L | W% |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bill Bernhard | 14 | 7 | 6 | .538 |
Jake Daubert | — | — | — | — |
John Hess | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 |
George Hunter | 14 | 8 | 5 | .615 |
Carl Sitton | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 |
Bill Sorrells | — | — | — | — |
Stan Yerkes | 6 | — | — | — |
Sulphur Dell, formerly known as Sulphur Spring Park and Athletic Park, was a baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It was located just north of the Tennessee State Capitol building in the block bounded by modern-day Jackson Street, Fourth Avenue North, Harrison Street, and Fifth Avenue North. The ballpark was home to the city's minor league baseball teams from 1885 to 1963. The facility was demolished in 1969.
Herschel Greer Stadium was a Minor League Baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, approximately two mi (3.2 km) south of the city's downtown district. The facility closed at the end of the 2014 baseball season and remained deserted for over four years until its demolition in 2019. Following an archaeological survey, the land is expected to be reincorporated into Fort Negley Park.
The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they became the Nashville Volunteers in 1908 in reference to Tennessee's nickname, "The Volunteer State". The Vols played their home games at Athletic Park, which had been home to the city's professional baseball teams since 1885 and was renamed Sulphur Dell in 1908.
Thomas Andrew "Shotgun" Rogers was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1917 to 1921 for the St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Athletics, and New York Yankees.
Charles Vedder Sitton, also known as Carl, C. V. and Vet Sitton, was a baseball player and coach. He attended Clemson College, where he also played football, and later coached baseball for the Tigers.
First Horizon Park, formerly known as First Tennessee Park, is a baseball park in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The home of the Triple-A Nashville Sounds of the International League, it opened on April 17, 2015, and can seat up to 10,000 people. It replaced the Sounds' former home, Herschel Greer Stadium, where the team played from its founding in 1978 through 2014.
Bradley Walker was a Nashville attorney who, in his youth, was found to be naturally proficient at virtually any sport he tried, including football, baseball, track, boxing, tennis and golf— in all these sports he either set records or won championships or awards.
Ferdinand Emery Kuhn was a shoe merchant known as the "Father of the Knights of Columbus in the South." He was also president of the 1908 Southern Association champion Nashville Vols baseball team.
The 1908 Nashville vs. New Orleans baseball game dubbed by Grantland Rice "The Greatest Game Ever Played in Dixie" was a 1–0 pitching duel to decide the Southern Association championship in the dead-ball era, on the last day of the season. The Nashville Vols won the game and thus the pennant by .002 percentage points, after finishing the prior season in last place. Both teams had the same number of losses (56), but the New Orleans Pelicans were in first place with 76 wins to the Vols' second-place 74. Carl Sitton used his spitball to out-pitch Ted Breitenstein for a complete-game, nine-strikeout, four-hit, shutout. According to one account, "By one run, by one point, Nashville has won the Southern League pennant, nosing New Orleans out literally by an eyelash. Saturday's game, which was the deciding one, between Nashville and New Orleans was the greatest exhibition of the national game ever seen in the south and the finish in the league race probably sets a record in baseball history".
The Nashville Sounds Minor League Baseball team was established in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1978, after Larry Schmittou and a group of investors purchased the rights to operate an expansion franchise of the Double-A Southern League. The Sounds played their home games at Herschel Greer Stadium from its opening in 1978 until the end of the 2014 season. In 2015, the Sounds left Greer for First Tennessee Park, now known as First Horizon Park, a new facility located on the site of the historic Sulphur Dell ballpark, home to Nashville's minor league teams from 1885 to 1963.
The 1901 Nashville Baseball Club season was the 8th season of minor league baseball in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Nashville Baseball Club's 1st season in the Southern Association. The board of directors awarded the league pennant to Nashville over Little Rock. In 1901, the Southern Association was formed to fill the void left by the folding of the original Southern League. The team was managed by Newt Fisher. The team featured Ed Abbaticchio, Snapper Kennedy, Tom Parrott and War Sanders. Abbatichio led the league in runs.
Julius Augustus "Doc" Wiseman was an American baseball player. He played for several minor league baseball clubs, mostly the Nashville Vols. He played in right field, where at Sulphur Dell there was a hill, known as "The Dump", earning him the nickname "the Goat". In 1901, the first season of the Southern Association, his batting average was .333. He hit the winning run to win the decisive game for the Southern pennant in 1908.
Nashville, Tennessee, has hosted Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams since the late 19th century but has never been home to a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. The city's professional baseball history dates back to 1884 with the formation of the Nashville Americans, who were charter members of the original Southern League in 1885 and played their home games at Sulphur Spring Park, later renamed Athletic Park and Sulphur Dell. This ballpark was the home of Nashville's minor league teams through 1963. Of the numerous clubs to play there, the best-known and longest-operating was the Nashville Vols, who competed from 1901 to 1963, primarily in the Southern Association.