Nashville Sounds
minor league baseball team in Nashville, Tennessee, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team from Nashville, Tennessee. They play baseball at the Triple-A level, the most difficult level before Major League Baseball, against other baseball teams in the International League. The Sounds are partnered with the Milwaukee Brewers, a Major League Baseball team. When a player shows that he plays well at this level, he may be moved up to play for the Brewers.
The team is named "Sounds" because the city of Nashville is a famous part of the music industry. The "Nashville sound," a form of country music, started there in the 1950s. The Sounds played at a ballpark called Herschel Greer Stadium from 1978 to 2014. In 2015, they began to play at a new stadium called First Horizon Park. They have played in Nashville longer than any other professional sports team currently playing in the city.
The Sounds began playing baseball in 1978. At first, they played at the Double-A level, the second-most difficult level before Major League Baseball, in the Southern League. More people went to watch the Sounds' games in Nashville that year than went to any other Minor League Baseball team's games. They had the highest attendance in the Southern League for each of the seven years they played in the league. The Sounds won the championship of the Southern League twice: in 1979 as a partner of the Cincinnati Reds and in 1982 as a partner of the New York Yankees.
Nashville changed to playing at the Triple-A level in 1985 as members of the American Association. The team did not play as well in this league and never won its championship. They joined the Pacific Coast League in 1998. The Sounds won its championship in 2005 as a partner of the Milwaukee Brewers. They have played in the International League since 2021 but have not won its championship.
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History
Starting the team
Minor League Baseball teams started playing baseball games in Nashville, Tennessee, in the late 19th century.[2] Many different teams played there between 1884 and 1963.[3] Of these, the team that played the longest was the Nashville Vols.[2] They played at a ballpark called Sulphur Dell from 1901 to 1963.[4] After they stopped playing, Nashville had no professional baseball team for 14 years until 1978.[2]
In the mid-1970s, Larry Schmittou, a former Vanderbilt University baseball coach, and Conway Twitty, a country musician, formed a group of people to pay for a new stadium and a team.[5][6] This group included country singer Jerry Reed and other people from Nashville.[5][6] They raised the money to build a US$1.5 million ballpark about two miles (3.2 km) south of downtown Nashville.[7] It was named Herschel Greer Stadium in honor of Herschel Lynn Greer, a Nashville businessman, whose family gave $25,000 for its construction.[8] The team was called the Nashville Sounds because of the "Nashville sound," a type of country music that started in the area in the late 1950s.[9][10]
Southern League
Cincinnati Reds (1978–1979)
The Nashville Sounds started playing in 1978.[2] The Cincinnati Reds agreed to be their Major League Baseball (MLB) partner, or affiliate.[11] Nashville joined the Southern League, which was at the Double-A level, the second-most difficult level before MLB.[12] They did not play well in their first season.[13][14] However, many people came to watch their games in Nashville. The Sounds sold more tickets that year than any other Minor League Baseball team.[6] They had the highest attendance in the Southern League for each of the seven years they played in the league.[6] To help sell tickets, Schmittou gave away items, like baseballs, T-shirts, and used cars, during games.[15] There was also entertainment for people between innings.[15]
The Sounds won the 1979 Southern League championship by defeating the Columbus Astros.[16] Nashville ended their affiliation with Cincinnati after the season. The Reds had allowed the team to use a designated hitter (DH) in their lineup but then wanted them to stop because Cincinnati did not use one in theirs.[17] Schmittou felt this would hurt the Sounds when they played against other teams that used a DH,[18] so he looked for a new major league partner.[17]
New York Yankees (1980–1984)
Nashville became the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees in 1980. This partnership was the most successful in team history in terms of games won. The Sounds won more games than they lost in all five seasons.[2] They got to play in the Southern League championship playoffs each year.[19] The 1980 club had a 97–46 win–loss record, the best of any Sounds team ever.[20] Nashville set the Southern League season attendance record that year when 575,676 people came to games at Greer Stadium.[21] They played for the league championship in 1981 but lost to the Orlando Twins.[16] In 1982, the Sounds won their second Southern League championship by defeating the Jacksonville Suns.[16]
American Association
Detroit Tigers (1985–1986)
Sounds leader Larry Schmittou saw that fewer people were coming to the team's games in the early 1980s than were before. He chose to move the team up to the Triple-A level, the most difficult level before Major League Baseball, to make more people want to go to games.[22] He also hoped the change would help the city of Nashville get its own MLB team in the future.[23] Schmittou bought the Triple-A Evansville Triplets of the American Association for $780,000 in July 1984.[23] In 1985, the Triple-A team moved from Evansville, Indiana, to Nashville.[23] They continued to be called the Nashville Sounds.[24] The Double-A team from Nashville moved to Huntsville, Alabama. They became known as the Huntsville Stars.[24] At the Triple-A level, the Sounds partnered with the Detroit Tigers.[23] Nashville almost made the playoffs in 1985,[25] but they did not play as well in 1986.[26] With still fewer people coming to games, the team ended their affiliation with Detroit after two seasons.[26]
Cincinnati Reds (1987–1992)
The Sounds became Triple-A partners with the Cincinnati Reds in 1987. They were chosen because the Reds were the most popular MLB team in the area.[27] Schmittou hoped this would get more people to go to Sounds games.[27] In 1990, Nashville set its all-time attendance record when 605,122 people went to games at Greer Stadium.[28] The Sounds' 1990 season was their best in the American Association.[29] They had an 86–61 record and played for the American Association championship but lost to the Omaha Royals.[30] Nashville did not get to play in the postseason in the other five years with Cincinnati.[29] Newer ballparks being built in the late 1980s were better for players and fans than Greer Stadium, which had been one of the best stadiums in Triple-A baseball.[31][32] The Reds ended their partnership with the Sounds so their players could have a better stadium.[32]
Chicago White Sox (1993–1997)
The Chicago White Sox agreed to become the new affiliate of the Sounds in 1993.[29] The White Sox then gave a list of changes that needed to be made with Greer Stadium. Schmittou asked the city to pay to build a new ballpark to replace Greer. He also thought about moving the team to a new city in the Nashville area. Instead, he made changes to fix many of the stadium's problems.[33] One change was the addition of its famous guitar-shaped scoreboard, which was added before the 1993 season.[34] The Sounds played for the American Association championship in each of their first two years with the White Sox but lost to the Iowa Cubs in 1993 and the Indianapolis Indians in 1994.[30]
Greer Stadium was shared between the Sounds and the Southern League's Nashville Xpress during the 1993 and 1994 seasons.[35] This happened after Charlotte, North Carolina, got a Triple-A team in 1993, leaving its Double-A Charlotte Knights without a home.[36] Schmittou let them use Greer as a ballpark.[37] To make it work, the Xpress' home games were played when the Sounds were playing games in other cities.[38]
The 1996 season was the last that Schmittou was the team's leader and part owner. A National Football League team, the Tennessee Titans, was going to start playing in Nashville in 1998. Schmittou felt that the Sounds would have fewer people at games and make less money. So, he and another owner sold their part of the Sounds to Chicago businessmen Al Gordon, Mike Murtaugh, and Mike Woleben.[17][39]
Pacific Coast League
Pittsburgh Pirates (1998–2004)
The American Association, of which Nashville had been members since 1985, shut down after the 1997 season. The Sounds changed to playing in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL).[40] Nashville also got a new partner, the Pittsburgh Pirates.[41] The team normally finished third or fourth (last) in their four-team division. In 2003, however, they made it to the final round of the playoffs but were unable to win the PCL championship against the Sacramento River Cats.[42] Pittsburgh ended their affiliation with the Sounds after the 2004 season so they could have their Triple-A team at a newer ballpark.[43]
Milwaukee Brewers (2005–2014)
The Sounds became the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005. Milwaukee chose to partner with Nashville because they were planning to build a new stadium to replace Greer.[44] Nashville won the Pacific Coast League championship in 2005 over the Tacoma Rainiers.[42] They did not reach the finals during the rest of the Brewers affiliation.[42] The team stopped its partnership with Milwaukee after the 2014 season because their players had not played well in recent years.[45]
The Sounds had planned to leave Greer Stadium in the mid-2000s for a new ballpark to be called First Tennessee Field.[46] However, the plan ended when the team and the city of Nashville could not agree on how to pay for the stadium.[47][48] Afterward, the team was sold to New York City investors Masahiro Honzawa, Steve Posner, and Frank Ward, as a group called MFP Baseball, in 2008.[49] They fixed many of the problems with Greer while continuing to try to get a new stadium.[50] Before the 2014 season, the team, the city of Nashville, and the State of Tennessee made a plan to build a new downtown ballpark which would open in 2015.[51] After 37 years, the Sounds played their final season at Herschel Greer Stadium in 2014.[52]
Oakland Athletics (2015–2018)
Nashville affiliated with the Oakland Athletics in 2015 because their old Triple-A team won many games and championships.[53] The Sounds started playing at the new $91 million First Horizon Park, then known as First Tennessee Park, in 2015.[54] Nashville chose not to continue their partnership with Oakland after the 2018 season so they could have a new affiliate.[55]
Texas Rangers (2019–2020)
The Sounds became the Triple-A partner of the Texas Rangers in 2019.[56] They chose the Rangers because they were one of the most popular MLB teams with local fans—behind the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals.[57] The 2020 season was not played because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[58] After the 2020 season, Major League Baseball took control of Minor League Baseball to help players earn more money, make stadiums better, and make it cost less for teams to travel. Affiliations were changed to have Triple-A teams closer to their MLB partners.[59] The Rangers chose to move their Triple-A affiliation back to Round Rock, Texas, where it had been before to partnering with Nashville.[60]
International League
Milwaukee Brewers (2021–present)
The Sounds became the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers for a second time in 2021.[61] The partnership will last at least through the 2030 season.[61] The Brewers chose Nashville as their partner because of their new stadium and the easy ways to travel to and from the city.[62] Along with Major League Baseball's changes to the minor leagues, the Pacific Coast League disbanded, and the Sounds were placed in a new league called the Triple-A East.[59] In 2022, the name of this league was changed to the International League, the name used by the league before the 2021 changes.[63] Nashville played a single playoff game for the 2022 International League championship against the Durham Bulls but lost.[64] The Sounds have played 46 seasons in Nashville through 2024, making them the city's oldest active professional team.[1]
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Championships
The Sounds have won 11 division championships and 3 league championships.[65]
- Southern League
- American Association
- Pacific Coast League
- International League
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Rivals
Nashville's main rivals have been other baseball teams from Memphis, Tennessee. The city is located about 200 miles (320 km) to the southwest and is connected to Nashville by Interstate 40. Memphis has had many teams which have played in the same leagues as Nashville's teams since the late 19th century.[77] The Sounds came into the rivalry when they and the Memphis Chicks joined the Southern League in 1978 as members of its Western Division.[78] For three seasons, from 1979 to 1981, the teams met in the Western Division finals to compete for a spot in the league championship series.[19] Nashville won those games in 1979 and 1981, and Memphis won in 1980.[79]
The rivalry stopped when Nashville moved to the American Association in 1985.[80] It was started again when they and the Memphis Redbirds joined the Pacific Coast League in 1998.[81] The teams have been division rivals ever since.[82] Memphis beat second-place Nashville by two games to win the 2009 division title.[83] They did the same in 2014 by two-and-a-half games.[84] In 2016, Nashville won the division by winning a game in Memphis.[85] In 2017 and 2018, Memphis won division titles in Nashville.[86][87] In 2021, both teams were placed in the Southeastern Division of the Triple-A East.[59] This became the International League in 2022,[63] and both clubs were put into its Western Division.[88]
Ballparks
Herschel Greer Stadium (1978–2014)
The Sounds played at a ballpark called Herschel Greer Stadium for 37 seasons from 1978 to 2014.[89] It was built on the grounds of Fort Negley, a fortification used during the American Civil War.[7] Greer was located about two miles (3.2 km) south of downtown Nashville. When the stadium opened, it had 7,200 seats.[90] The most seats it ever had was 18,000 in 1987.[91] By its last season, the number had dropped to 10,300.[92] The largest attendance at the stadium happened on August 18, 1982, when 22,315 people saw the Sounds play the Columbus Astros.[93] There were so many people that some of them stood in roped-off areas in the outfield.[94] Greer's best-known feature was a giant 115.6 foot (35.2 m) guitar-shaped scoreboard that was added before the 1993 season.[95] The Sounds played their final season at Greer in 2014.[52] The ballpark was torn down in 2019.[96]
First Horizon Park (2015–present)
The Sounds began to play at a new stadium called First Horizon Park in 2015.[97] The stadium is located in downtown Nashville at the site of the former Sulphur Dell ballpark.[97] It has seats for 8,500 people, but has room for up to 10,000 with other seating areas.[98] The ballpark's highest attendance happened on July 16, 2022, when 12,409 people watched a game between the Sounds and the Memphis Redbirds.[99]
Like Greer Stadium before it, First Horizon Park has a 142 foot (43 m) guitar-shaped scoreboard.[100][101] Other features at the ballpark include The Band Box, an outdoor restaurant and bar,[98] and The Country Club at The Band Box, a 9-hole mini golf course.[102] Since 2016, the Country Legends Race has been a part of the between-innings entertainment at the stadium. In the middle of the fifth inning, people wearing costumes of country musicians Johnny Cash, George Jones, Reba McEntire, and Dolly Parton race around the field.[103][104]
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Uniforms
1978–2018
The Sounds have had three sets of colors, five main logos, and many different uniforms.[105] From 1978 to 1997, their colors were red, white, and blue.[105] Nashville's logo connected the team with the city's part in the country music industry.[9] It showed a baseball player, called "Slugger", who has hit a baseball with an acoustic guitar, often used in country music, in place of a bat.[9] Their jerseys had "Sounds" or "Nashville" written on the front in letters that looked like musical notes.[106] They wore caps with a letter "N" that looked like an eighth note.[105]
From 1998 to 2004, the Sounds used red, black, and white as their colors.[105] The new team logo was an eighth note with a baseball at the top inside a circle. "Nashville Sounds" was written around the sides of the circle.[107] Their jerseys used a simpler font, and caps had the main music note logo.[108]
Nashville kept the red, black, and white colors from 2005 to 2014, but they had a different logo.[105] It was an oval with a baseball player silhouetted against a yellow background hitting a ball toward the Nashville city horizon. "Nashville" was written above, and "Sounds" was written below.[105] Their caps had a music note logo that was simpler than their last cap logo.[109]
From 2015 to 2018, the Sounds used logos that included items that related to Nashville's "Music City" nickname, such as guitars, guitar picks, and neon signs.[110] At first, the colors were changed to orange, burnt orange, tan, and black, but fans did not like them.[111] So, they went back to using red, black, and white along with silver.[110] The new logo was a red "N" on a silver guitar pick, both with black borders.[110] Jerseys had letters and numbers that looked like parts of a guitar. Caps had the guitar pick logo.[112]
2019–present
In 2019, the Sounds started using navy blue, red, and white as their colors.[1] Their logo is a pair of concentric red circles with the team name in navy letters between them. Two stripes, one red and one navy, go through the middle of the circle. A navy "N" that looks like the holes in a guitar or violin is in the inner circle, which looks like a baseball.[113]
When they play games at home in Nashville, they usually wear white jerseys with "NASH" written across the front in navy letters. The sleeves have navy and red bands at the openings and six thin red stripes, which look like guitar strings, going up the sides. The left sleeve has a navy and white logo that looks like a guitar pick. These jerseys are worn with white pants. When they play teams in other cities, they wear gray jerseys with a red and white "N" on the front along with gray pants.[114]
Sometimes, at home or away, they wear other jerseys. One is navy blue with "Nashville" written on the front in red and white. Like the home whites, the sleeves have red and white bands at the openings, white guitar strings, and a guitar pick logo. Another different jersey is red with "Sounds" on the front in navy and white. The neck and sleeve openings have navy and white bands, and the sleeves have white strings and a pick logo. All jerseys are worn with a few different kinds of baseball caps. The main cap is navy with a red "N" outlined in white on the front. Others use different mixes of red, white, and navy with the "N" logo. One kind has three navy stars like those on the flag of Tennessee inside a red-outlined home plate.[114]
For home games played on Thursdays, the Sounds wear "throwback uniforms".[115] The jerseys look like those the team wore in the 1980s. They are blue with bands of red and white at the neck and sleeve openings. "Sounds" is written on the front in white and red. The cap is blue with a red brim and has an "N" in white and red.[116] Another jersey is worn for Saturday home games. These are white with navy bands at the neck and sleeve openings. "Hit City" is written on the front in navy, with red silhouettes of the Nashville skyline above and the lower half of their guitar scoreboard below.[117]
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Radio and television
All Sounds games can be listened to on 94.9 FM The Fan (AM 830) in the Nashville area.[118] They can also be heard through the team's website or the Minor League Baseball mobile app.[119] Games can be watched through MLB.TV, a streaming service from Major League Baseball.[120] Jeff Hem has been the team's play-by-play announcer since 2012.[118]
Mascots
The Sounds' mascot is an anthropomorphic rooster named Booster. He is bright red with yellow legs, beak, comb, and palms and red, orange, and yellow tail feathers that look like flames. He wears the same jerseys as the team with the number zero. Booster has been the team's mascot since they started playing at First Horizon Park in 2015. His name has to do with "boosting" or building excitement for the team, while his look has to do with Nashville hot chicken, a local food.[121]
The team's mascot in their first season was called Homer Horsehide.[122] The character was human, except for a giant baseball for a head. He had a mustache and wore the team's uniforms.[123] Homer continued as the team mascot through at least 1982.[124] From 1995 to mid 1996, the mascot was a lime-green dinosaur named Champ who wore the team's jerseys.[125]
An anthropomorphic cougar named Ozzie was the team's mascot from 1997 to 2014. At first, this was a brown outfit borrowed from another baseball team. After Ozzie became popular with fans, he became the full-time mascot. A new yellow costume with big muscles was used starting in 1998.[126] Ozzie wore the same style of uniforms as the team, but with no hat. He stopped being the mascot when the Sounds left Greer Stadium in 2014.[121]
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References
Other websites
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