List of baseball parks in Nashville, Tennessee

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Sulphur Dell was home to Nashville's minor league teams from 1885 to 1963. Sulphur Dell in color.jpg
Sulphur Dell was home to Nashville's minor league teams from 1885 to 1963.

Nashville, Tennessee, has hosted professional baseball teams since the late 19th century at five ballparks around the city. The first was Sulphur Spring Park, later renamed Athletic Park but best known as Sulphur Dell, which was the home of the city's minor league teams from 1885 to 1963. It was located just north of the Tennessee State Capitol in downtown Nashville. The facility was demolished in 1969.

Contents

A number of Negro league teams competed at Sulphur Dell as well as at Greenwood Park, located across from Greenwood Cemetery, and Tom Wilson Park, north of the Nashville Fairgrounds, both of which were in Nashville's black communities and have since been demolished.

Herschel Greer Stadium was built in 1978 on the grounds of Fort Negley just south of downtown. Greer served as the home of the Nashville Sounds for 37 seasons until they left for the new First Horizon Park, then known as First Tennessee Park, located at the site of Sulphur Dell, in 2015. Greer was demolished in 2019.

Baseball parks

Sulphur Dell

Sulphur Dell in its first configuration Sulphur Dell 1908.jpg
Sulphur Dell in its first configuration
The grandstand being rebuilt in 1927 Sulphur Dell 1927 2.jpg
The grandstand being rebuilt in 1927
A packed grandstand in the 1950s Sulphur Dell 1950s.jpg
A packed grandstand in the 1950s
Sulphur Spring Park (c. 1850s–1860s)
Athletic Park (1870–1907)
Nashville Americans – Southern League (1885–1886)
Nashville Blues – Southern League (1887)
Nashville Tigers – Southern League (1893–1894)
Nashville Seraphs – Southern League (1895)
Nashville Centennials – Central League (1897)
Nashville Vols – Southern Association (1901–1961) / South Atlantic League (1963)
Nashville Standard Giants/Elite Giants – independent (1920–1928)
Nashville Stars – Negro Major League (1942)
Nashville Black Vols/Cubs – Negro Southern League (1945–1951)
Home plate in northeast corner of block facing southwest (1884–1926)
Home plate in southwest corner of block facing northeast (1927–1963)

Sulphur Spring Park, as Sulphur Dell was first known, was located in a bottomland, or dell, which was used by early settlers for trading and watering at a natural sulphur spring. [1] In the 1850s, a portion of the land was re-purposed for baseball. [2] By 1870, the baseball grounds were referred to as "Athletic Park". [3] In 1885, a wooden grandstand was built at the corner of modern-day Fourth Avenue North and Jackson Street to accommodate fans of the Nashville Americans, who were charter members of the original Southern League. [2] [4] Several other minor league teams followed the Americans, but the ballpark's longest tenant was the Southern Association's Nashville Vols, who played there from 1901 to 1963. Sportswriter Grantland Rice started referring to the ballpark as "Sulphur Spring Dell" in 1908, which he later shortened to "Sulphur Dell". [5]

The original grandstand was situated with home plate facing the southwest toward the Tennessee State Capitol building. [3] Consequently, batters would often have to compete with the afternoon sunlight shining in their eyes. After the 1926 season, the entire ballpark was demolished and rebuilt as a concrete-and-steel structure with home plate in the southwest corner facing northeast along Fourth Avenue North. [3] Sulphur Dell's infamous outfield was born out of this realignment. The second configuration included a significant "terrace" or sloping outfield: a steep incline that ran along the entire outfield wall, most dramatically in right and center fields. [3]

In its prime, Sulphur Dell was nestled in an area that was home to the city's garbage dump, stockyards, and various warehouses. [6] [7] The Vols left after the conclusion of the 1963 season. Amateur baseball teams played there in 1964, and it was converted to a speedway for three weeks in 1965. The stadium then served as a tow-in lot for Metro Nashville, before being demolished on April 16, 1969. [8] Until 2014, it was the location of a number of parking lots used by state employees. In 2015, the city built First Tennessee Park on the site. [9]

Greenwood Park

The Greenwood Park grandstand as viewed from the field Greenwood Park Tennessee ballpark.jpg
The Greenwood Park grandstand as viewed from the field

Greenwood Park, established in 1905, was a public park for Nashville's black community. In addition to picnic space, amusement riders, and a swimming pool, the grounds were home to a baseball diamond used by the independent Nashville Standard/Elite Giants from 1920 to 1928 and other Negro league teams. [11] [12] The park was demolished after its 1949 closure. [11]

Tom Wilson Park

Tom Wilson Park was located in what was at the time Nashville's largest black community, known as Trimble Bottom, near the convergence of Second and Forth Avenues, just north of the fairgrounds. [14] It opened in 1929 to serve as the home park for owner Thomas T. Wilson's Nashville Elite Giants, a Negro league team which competed in several circuits from 1929 to 1930 and 1932 to 1934. [14] [13] The ballpark also served as a spring training site for other Negro league teams. [13] Wilson discontinued all baseball activities at the park in 1946, and it was later demolished. [13]

Herschel Greer Stadium

Greer Stadium's diamond and seating bowl as seen from right field GreerStadium1stBaseLine.jpg
Greer Stadium's diamond and seating bowl as seen from right field
Nashville Sounds – Southern League (1978–1984) / American Association (1985–1997) / Pacific Coast League (1998–2014)
Nashville Xpress – Southern League (1993–1994)

Herschel Greer Stadium, located on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, was opened in 1978 for the Nashville Sounds, an expansion franchise of the Double-A Southern League who moved to the Triple-A American Association in 1985 and to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1998. The facility closed at the end of the 2014 baseball season, after which the Sounds left for the new First Tennessee Park. Greer remained deserted for over four years until its demolition in 2019. [15]

Amidst the Sounds' 37-season run, Greer simultaneously hosted two professional baseball clubs in 1993 and 1994, acting as a temporary home to a displaced Southern League franchise known during that period as the Nashville Xpress. [16] They were named for the railroad tracks located just beyond the right-center field wall to the stadium's east-southeast. [17] Greer was best recognized by its distinctive guitar-shaped scoreboard, which measured 115.6 feet (35.2 m) across, 53 feet (16 m) high, and 2 feet (0.61 m) deep. [18]

First Horizon Park

First Horizon Park as viewed from left field by the foul pole and home bullpen First Tennessee Park, September 3, 2018.jpg
First Horizon Park as viewed from left field by the foul pole and home bullpen
First Tennessee Park (2015–2019)

First Horizon Park, located downtown on the site of the former Sulphur Dell, is the second ballpark used by the Nashville Sounds, who relocated from Greer Stadium in 2015. [19] The $91 million stadium has a fixed seating capacity of 8,500 people, but can accommodate up to 10,000 with additional grass berm seating. [20] [21] One of First Horizon Park's most recognizable features, like Greer Stadium before it, is a 142 by 55 foot (43 by 17 m) guitar-shaped scoreboard beyond the right-center field wall. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nashville Sounds</span> Minor League Baseball team in Nashville, Tennessee

The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the city's association with the music industry, specifically the "Nashville sound", a subgenre of country music which originated in the city in the mid-1950s. The team plays their home games at First Horizon Park, which opened in 2015 on the site of the historic Sulphur Dell ballpark. The Sounds previously played at Herschel Greer Stadium from its opening in 1978 until the end of the 2014 season. They are the oldest active professional sports franchise in Nashville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sulphur Dell</span> Former baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Elite Giants</span> Negro league baseball team

The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from 1920 to 1950. The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team was renamed the Elite Giants in 1921, and moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1938, where the team remained for the duration of their existence. The team and its fans pronounced the word "Elite" as "ee-light".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herschel Greer Stadium</span> Demolished Minor League Baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, USA

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nashville Vols</span> Former Minor League Baseball team in Nashville, Tennessee

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herschel Lynn Greer</span> American businessman

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Schmittou</span>

Larry Schmittou is an American entrepreneur and former baseball executive and coach. He owns L&S Family Entertainment LLC, which operates a chain of bowling centers in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Rogers (baseball)</span> American baseball player

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nashville Seraphs</span> Former Minor League Baseball team in Nashville, Tennessee

The Nashville Seraphs, often known as the Nashvilles, were a minor league baseball team that played in the Class B Southern League in 1895. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, and played their home games at Athletic Park, later known as Sulphur Dell. The club won the Southern League pennant in their only season, becoming the city's first minor league baseball team to win a league championship.

The Nashville Centennials were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Class C Central League in 1897. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, and were named in reference to the celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of Tennessee's admission to the union in 1796, highlighted by the 1897 Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. The Centennials played their home games at Athletic Park, later known as Sulphur Dell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Horizon Park</span> Baseball stadium in Nashville, USA, opened 2015

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.

The Nashville Cubs were a Negro league baseball team that played in the minor league Negro Southern League from 1945 to 1951. The club was originally called the Nashville Black Vols, named after the all-white Nashville Vols of the minor league Southern Association, but changed to the Cubs moniker in 1946. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, for the majority of their existence, but split part of the 1950 season between Nashville and Louisville, Kentucky, where they played as the Louisville Cubs. While in Nashville, they played their home games at Sulphur Dell. The Black Vols finished the 1945 season in fourth place with an 18–16 (.529) record. The 1949 team won the second half of the season.

The Nashville Stars were a semi-pro and minor league Negro league baseball team in the late 1930s through the early 1950s. The Stars played in the Negro Major League in 1942 and the Negro Southern League in 1951. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, and played their home games at Sulphur Dell. Nashville newspapers from the era indicate the team held membership in the Negro Southern League in 1950 as well.

Tom Wilson Park is a former Negro league baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, that opened in 1929 and closed in 1946. The ballpark has since been demolished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwood Park (Tennessee)</span>

Greenwood Park was the first urban park and recreation area established for African Americans in Nashville, Tennessee. It was located on a 40-acre (16 ha) plot approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) east-southeast of downtown along Spence Lane between Lebanon Pike and Elm Hill Pike, across from Greenwood Cemetery. The park was founded in 1905 by Preston Taylor, a wealthy minister and former slave. It remained open until 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Nashville Sounds</span> History of the Minor League Baseball franchise

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1908 Nashville Vols season</span> Southern Association team season

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. 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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of professional baseball in Nashville, Tennessee</span> History of the citys professional baseball teams

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.

References

Specific
  1. ↑ Nipper, Skip (November 5, 2013). "Salt and Sulphur". 262 Down Right. Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Traughber, Bill (June 25, 2012). "Looking Back: Nashville's Sulphur Springs Ballpark". Nashville Sounds. Minor League Baseball. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Nipper, Skip (January 4, 2014). "Sulphur Dell: A Brief History". 262 Down Right. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  4. ↑ Traughber, Bill (April 25, 2011). "Looking Back: The 1885 Nashville Americans". Nashville Sounds. Minor League Baseball. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  5. ↑ Nipper, Skip (January 14, 2015). "Grantland Rice Named "Sulphur Dell" On This Day". 262 Down Right. Archived from the original on February 2, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  6. ↑ Nipper, Skip (2007). Baseball in Nashville. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 99–100. ISBN   978-0-7385-4391-8.
  7. ↑ Nipper, Skip (October 24, 2013). "New Ballpark, New Opening Day, New Memories". 262 Down Right. Archived from the original on June 19, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  8. ↑ Traughber, Bill (August 26, 2013). "Looking Back: Sulphur Dell Demolished in 1969". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Ballpark at Sulphur Dell". Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Story of Greenwood". Historic Nashville. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Greenwood Park - 3A 129 - Nashville, TN". Waymarking. Groundspeak. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  12. ↑ Richardson, Clement (January 19, 2018). "The National Cyclopedia of the Colored Race". National publishing Company, Incorporated. p. 335 – via Google Books.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Tom Wilson Park Marker". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Nipper, Skip (October 18, 2013). "Tom Wilson and the Nashville Elite Giants". 262 Down Right. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  15. ↑ Lombard, Cherish (April 1, 2019). "Greer Stadium Demolition Could Take up to 6 Months, Officials Say". WRKN. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  16. ↑ Weiss, Bill; Wright, Marshall (2001). "69. 1980 Nashville Sounds". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  17. ↑ Taft, Lary (January 29, 1993). "Questions and Answers About Nashville's Double Play". The Tennessean. Nashville. p. 3-C – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Straughn, Katie (June 20, 2014). "7 Facts About Greer Stadium's Original Guitar Scoreboard". The Tennessean. Nashville. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  19. ↑ Joey, Garrison (April 18, 2015). "Like Old Times at New Park". The Tennessean. Nashville. p. 1A – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Reichard, Kevin (April 20, 2015). "First Tennessee Park / Nashville Sounds". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Audit of the First Tennessee Ballpark Construction Project" (PDF). Metropolitan Nashville Office of Internal Audit. April 24, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  22. ↑ "First Tennessee Park" (PDF). 2015 Nashville Sounds Media Guide. Minor League Baseball. 2015. p. 206. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
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