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Coming home to Sulphur Dell

David Ammenheuser
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee
A crowd of more than 5,000 that poured into Sulphur Dell April 16, 1960 to welcome the Nashville Vols for a new season.

Columnist Dave Ammenheuser and baseball historian Skip Nipper have prepared a nine-inning (part) multimedia series publishing daily with videos, slide shows and more, leading up to the opening of First Tennessee Park on April 17.

When Frank Ward arrived in Nashville in 2006, he did not envision owning the city's professional baseball team.

As a successful New York City real estate developer, Manhattan was his home. It's where his wife loves living on the Upper East Side. It's where they raised four children.

He visited Nashville only to visit his daughter, a Vanderbilt student.

But something happened during those visits. He fell in love with Music City. And when the opportunity came to buy the Nashville Sounds, the life long baseball enthusiast jumped at the opportunity.

Sounds owner Frank Ward watches as the construction of First Tennessee Park progresses Monday March 16, 2015, in Nashville.

Nine years later, Ward is the principal reason that the city soon will open First Tennessee Park, the new home of the Sounds.

"I'm very proud of what we have created," Ward said recently. Sitting in a seat behind the third base dugout, he spoke amid the noise made by more than 100 construction workers getting the stadium ready for April 17's opening day. "This is the pinnacle. This is my last hurrah. What do you do after you've accomplished this? I built high-rise office buildings, but this is a much different animal."

The 68-year-old freely admits that his stubborn nature delayed getting the new ballpark built. And those who know him say that same personality trait is a reason it will be ready on time.

Soon after he and his partners purchased the team in 2009, Ward became a vocal advocate of moving the team near Riverfront Park.

Mayor Karl Dean, however, wanted the park built in North Nashville, near Germantown, where professional baseball first was played in the city in the 19th century on a site known as Sulphur Dell.

The Dean-Ward stalemate was broken in April 2013.

The key moment came on Opening Day in 2013 when Dean was invited to throw out the first pitch at Greer Stadium. That day, Ward approached Dean and said: "Let's go build a ballpark at Sulphur Dell."

Walking off the mound that day, Dean's response was simple: "Let's do it."

At a ceremonial press briefing to place home plate at the new park, Dean said that those few words were critical to getting the new park built.

"I really did think that before this project was announced, we had reached a point where we would not get an agreement," Dean said. "Because I was pretty steadfast that the ballpark was going to be here. So the stubbornness goes both ways. I just didn't think that (Riverfront) was the right location."

Ward now agrees with the mayor.

"The mayor was absolutely right," Ward said. "I was stubborn. I think, at the end of the day, this is better than the Thermal site. We would not have been able to accomplish what we are accomplishing here. Once you agree with the mayor, life becomes much easier."

The front of the Sulphur Dell Baseball Park, home of the Nashville Vols, waits for the next season of summer on a raining day Dec. 6, 1960.

The ballpark is the focal point of a planned $75 million project between Harrison and Jackson streets.

Ward has been deeply involved in the ballpark, from its overall design to finite details. Since moving into the Gulch two years ago, he has been at the construction site "nearly every day" except his occasional visits to New York.

Working with the architects, developers and city officials, Ward and the Sounds have had major input on many ballpark details. He spearheaded the move to build a new guitar-shaped scoreboard. When the cost of the park exceeded projections, partially because of Ward's desire to have the scoreboard, Ward and the Sounds agreed to a one-time payment of $2 million on top of the $700,000 annual lease payment they already have committed.

While sitting in the seats, he stopped the interview twice to ask Sounds staff member Doug Scopel to check on a specific construction issue.

"Since he and his partners bought the team, Frank has always been fair to all of us," Scopel said. "He's been very clear on what he wants to do, whether its with our staff or with this ballpark project. He's a man of his word. He expects a lot out, yet he is very approachable."

Born on Staten Island and raised in northern New Jersey, his hard-line business demeanor has been, at times,misunderstood.

It might have been instilled during his three years in the Army, from 1967-69. It could have come from working his way up from an auditor to the chief financial officer for one of New York City's top high-rise office building developers. Or when he and Masahiro Honzawa left that firm to start their own company, MFP Real Estate.

"He is what you see, and he will say what is on his mind," Dean said. "He does it in a way that is straightforward. He doesn't sugarcoat it."

Garry Arthur, the team's chief operating officer, probably knows Ward better than anyone in Nashville. Arthur has been adviser to Ward for several years. When general manager Brad Tammen left the Sounds after the 2014 season, Arthur became more involved in the team.

"When you talk about Frank Ward, there's total lack of pretense," Arthur said. "He's not interested in it. That's one of the benefits we have when we get older. Frank may come across as a little hard-headed or strong-willed, but really, he just doesn't have time for it. With the (construction) time line of a year, his direct approach is what is needed on a project like this."

Ward saidbuilding this ballpark gives him much more satisfactionthan building another New York City office building.

"An office building, you got plans, you know what it is going to be, you got the footprint, you know how tall it is going to be," he said. "It is like an erector set. This is much more exciting. It's the finest minor-league ballpark in the country."

Reach Dave Ammenheuser at 615-259-8352 and on Twitter @NashSportsEd.

FRANK WARD FILE

The baseball team owner: Ward and Masahiro Honzawa purchased the Sounds in 2009.

The child: Born in Staten Island, N.Y., and raised in Tom's River, N.J.

The Army tour: After graduating from high school, he was drafted by the Army in 1967 and served in Korea for three years.

Sounds owner Frank Ward

The college years: After returning from the Army, he attended Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, where he graduated with an accounting degree.

The jobs: In 1971, he was hired out of college by Kenneth Leventhal & Co. (now part of Ernst & Young) as an auditor. In 1973, he moved to the company's New York City office and eventually moved into corporate restructuring. In 1982, he was hired as the managing director and CFO of HRO International, a high-rise office building developer in Manhattan. In 1995, he became COO of Hiro Real Estate Co. In 2008, he and Honzawa left Hiro to start MFP Real Estate.

The family: He and his wife, Renee, have four children, ranging in age from 23 to 40. Sons Christopher and Timothy; daughters Danielle (a 2010 Vanderbilt graduate) and Katie.

The collector: Ward collects early 20th century baseball cards.

Skip Nipper, baseball author and writer at his home in Mt. Juliet on Tuesday March 24, 2015, in Nashville.

THE HISTORIAN

A die-hard New York Yankees fan, Skip Nipper is the author of Baseball in Nashville (2007, Arcadia Publishiing) blogs about area baseball history at262downright.comand shares his love of Nashville's famous ballpark, Sulphur Dell, throughwww.sulphurdell.com. A 1972 graduate of Memphis State University, Skip is the co-founder of the Grantland Rice-Fred Russell SABR (Nashville) chapter andserves as secretary for the Old Timers Baseball Association of Nashville. Skp lives in Mt. Juliet with his wife, Sheila.

Nashville Sounds manager Stump Merrill, right, and his team heads to the dugout for the start of their exhibition game with David Lipscomb College at Greer Stadium. (4/8/1980)

Base Ball. —

This healthful and exciting exercise was very generally popular last fall, especially in the Northern States, and we hope it will be introduced here as soon as the heated term passes off. We noticed the other evening a party engaged in Base Ball on the Edgefield side of the river, all apparently enjoying themselves. The early closing of the stores gives a fine opportunity to the young men engaged in mercantile pursuits

—The Republican Banner,Wednesday, July 25, 1860

Those were the first known reported words of the game of baseball played in Nashville.

That was 155 years ago, before the start of the Civil War. Many teams and thoursands of players have called Nashville home since that date. The latest chapter in the city's baseball history begins April 17 with the opening of First Tennessee Park, the new home of the Nashville Sounds.

Before that celebration begins, it's time to review the past:

FIRST PARKS

Not only was Edgefield a popular location for games, a field on the grounds of Fisk University was a popular spot, often referred to as Fort Gillem. But the city grounds near the Cumberland River would become the traditional site for picnics, recreation and organized baseball games.

EARLY ORGANIZER

Perhaps the earliest organizer of ball clubs was John Dickins. He became a trusted umpire after the Civil War when he spent nearly a year in Confederate prison camps. Dickins organized the Cumberlands, a Nashville team that hosted a club from Louisville on July 31, 1866, in a game viewed by 2,000. His wife, Emma, was the scorekeeper as the Louisvilles won 39-23.

1885 Nashville Americans.

"The causes of baseball's popularity were varied," says local vintage baseball player and historian Chris Ryland. "I know that the post-war influx of Union soldiers and other so-called "carpetbaggers" coming to Tennessee had a huge influence. John Dickins of the Cumberlands was a Union Soldier, as were at least several of the founders of the Rock City Club, probably the first post-war club in Nashville.

SUNDAY FINES

The Republican Banner reported in the fall of 1866 that members of "Brownlow's Black Boys Base Ball Club," were fined for playing baseball on the Sabbath at "Sulfer Spring Bottom."

"The entire nation was mad for outdoor sports in general, and baseball happened to be the activity that caught on," Ryland said. "The number of juvenile clubs in the late 1860s exploded, and in many cases it was the members of these clubs that fed the development of longer-lasting baseball institutions in the area. From 1866-1867, it was still possible for men in their 30s and 40s to play on these clubs, but the quality of competition grew too quickly for any but the youngest and most fit to participate at the higher levels."

ATHLETIC PARK

Nashville's ball grounds came from humble beginnings in an area on the city's northern edge that was the venue for picnics and recreation. P. T. Barnum pitched his tents there in November of 1872, and even though the proximity of this lovely piece of ground was not so beautiful after late-winter's rainfalls filled the low-lying basin, Athletic Park was the place for ball games.

FIRST PRO TEAM

More local teams formed and were known by a variety of names: Linck's Hotel, Phoenix, Burns, Flynn, Nashville Athletic Club and East Nashville. In 1885 the first Nashville professional baseball team was organized and known as the Americans, primarily because the Nashville American gave detailed coverage to the games.

The team was formed as a member of the newly-organized Southern League. Not a successful venture for the last 15 years of the 19th century, subsequent entries into each reorganized Southern League through 1895 were the Nashville Blues, Tigers and Seraphs.

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION

When the Southern Association of Baseball Clubs was established on Oct. 20, 1900, Nashville's Newt Fisher was one of the organizers. Fisher would become team owner and managed the club to the first two championships of the league in 1901 and 1902.

SULPHUR DELL NAME

Sports writer Grantland Rice reported significant events that stamped Nashville's ballpark and team into the annals of baseball history. In his sports column, published in the Nashville Tennessean on Jan. 14, 1908, Rice referred the local ballpark as Sulphur Spring Dell. It was later shortened to Sulphur Dell.

The next month Rice reported that the nickname Volunteers was chosen in a contest to name the Nashville Baseball Club. It was shortened to Vols soon thereafter.

GREATEST GAME

On Sept. 19, 1908, the Vols beat New Orleans 1-0 to win their third Southern Association championship before 10,700 fans at Sulphur Dell. The game was called "The Greatest Game Ever Played in Dixie."

PERFECT GAME

On July 11, 1916, Tom Rogers threw a perfect game against the Chattanooga Lookouts at Sulphur Dell. He finished the season with a 24-12 record as the Vols won the 1916 Southern Association pennant. The Vols would not win another regular season championship for 25 years.

GILBERT ERA

In November 1938, Larry Gilbert was hired as manager and assumed co-ownership of the club. In his first season for Nashville, Gilbert led his team to a playoff victory over Atlanta. The Vols then played Texas League champion Fort Worth. By winning four of seven games in the Dixie Series, Gilbert began a winning tradition with Nashville that would see him build an 821-660 record from 1939-48 as manager for the Vols.

Larry Gilbert

Gilbert's clubs also captured Southern Association pennants in 1940, 1943 and 1948.

LENNON THE LEGEND

In 1954, Bob Lennon slammed three homers in a season-ending doubleheader to finish the season with 64, a record never equaled in the history of the Southern Association.

STRUGGLING FRANCHISE

Although the Vols had many popular players such as Buster Boguskie, Carl Sawatski, Babe Barna, Jack Harshman, Larry Taylor, Bobby Durnbaugh and George Schmees in the 1950s, the club's attendance began to sag. Part of the reason was the Southern Association's refusal to integrate its rosters. In January 1959, a group of civic leaders formed Vols Inc. to salvage the team. Vols Inc. sold $5 shares to 4,876 stockholders.

THE END OF THE VOLS

Although the Vols Inc. board of directors voted to end the ban on Negro players, the Southern Association folded after the 1961 season. The team was resurrected in 1963 as a member of the South Atlantic League. However, only 55,000 fans attended games that season. Faced with a debt of $22,000 and no cash on hand, Vols, Inc. surrendered its South Atlantic League franchise at the end of the season.

On Sept. 8, 1963, the Vols played their final games at Sulphur Dell when they swept a doubleheader from Lynchburg, Va.

SCHMITTOU TO THE RESCUE

In 1976, Vanderbilt baseball coach Larry Schmittou formed a group of Nashville investors to found the Nashville Sounds of the Class AA Southern League.

"In the fall of 1976 Larry and I started talking about bringing baseball back to Nashville," said Farrell Owens, the first Sounds general manager. "We paid our own way to Los Angeles to the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings and met with Cincinnati Reds farm director chief Bender. He told us if we would build a stadium, the Reds' AA club in Three Rivers, Quebec, would move to Nashville."

DAUNTING TASK

"We were optimistic," Owens said. "We just knew we were going to sell enough season tickets to build a stadium for half-a-million and then survive on advertising. In July, the stadium bid was just short of $800,000. If it wasn't for the Greer family, it probably would have been."

Herschel Greer Stadium was built as the home park of the Sounds, named for local businessman Herschel Lynn Greer, Sr. whose family donated $50,000 to begin stadium construction. Built at the foot of St. Cloud Hill near Fort Negley, the original stadium had a seating capacity of 10,700.

A full house of 7,002 fans has them sitting on the field in the right field foul area as the Nashville Vols takes on Atlanta Crackers at Sulphur Dell July 13, 1959. This was the biggest crowd since the 1957 All Star game, but the cellar-dwelling Crackers beat the Vols 7-3.

SUCCESS AT GREER

The club was an immediate success, drawing 380,000 fans to lead all of minor league baseball in attendance in 1978. The team won Southern League titles in 1979 as an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and in 1982 with the New York Yankees.

"The team was successful for many reasons," Owens said. "The Braves had moved south and folks drove to Atlanta to attend games. Greer Stadium was not the best, but it was better than old Sulphur Dell. We had four promotions every night when other teams had one. We tapped into Music City when Jerry Reed and Conway Twitty became stockholders. Barbara Mandrell and Loretta Lynn came to games. It was the place to be. Walk-up ticket sales and concession sales were unbelievable."

An all-time attendance mark was set when 605,122 fans attended games at Greer Stadium in 1990 when the Sounds had become a member of the Class AAA American Association. In 1993 the iconic guitar-shaped scoreboard was added beyond the outfield wall.

THE XPRESS

Nashville added a second professional team in 1993. When the Southern League had no place for one of its clubs to play, Schmittou offered to host the team for the 1993 season. A Minnesota Twins affiliate, named the Xpress, played at Greer during 1993 and '94. Birmingham outfielder Michael Jordan made several appearances against the Xpress at Greer. The Xpress relocated to Wilmington, N.C., in 1995.

NEW OWNERS, NEW LEAGUE

The Nashville Sounds were sold to an ownership group led by Al Gordon in 1997. When the American Association dissolved in 1998, Nashville became part of the Pacific Coast League.

PCL CHAMPS

An affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, the Sounds won the PCL championship in 2005 with future major league players Nelson Cruz, Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks leading the way.

THE WARD ERA

MFP Real Estate purchased the Nashville Sounds in 2009 with executive director Frank Ward taking the lead role. Developing a new ballpark was a priority for Ward. After ending a stalemate with Mayor Karl Dean on the location of the new ballpark, Ward agreed in 2013 that the old Sulphur Dell site would be the new home for the Sounds.

OPENING NIGHT

A sellout crowd is expected for Opening Night at First Tennessee Park on April 17.

Nashville Baseball Franchise History

19TH CENTURY

The Nashville Americans (1885-86), the Blues (1887), the Tigers (1893-94) and the Seraphs (1895) played in the Southern League. None of those teams won championships.

NASHVILLE VOLS (1901-1963)

Competed in the Southern Association, 1901-61; South Atlantic League, 1963

Affiliates: New York Giants (1934-35, '52-54), Cincinnati Reds (1936-37, '55-60), Brooklyn Dodgers (1938-40), Chicago Cubs (1943-51), Minnesota Twins (1961), Los Angeles Angels (1963)

Championships: 1901, 1902, 1908, 1916, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1948, 1949, 1953

NASHVILLE SOUNDS (1978-2015)

Competed in the Southern League, 1978-84; American Association, 1985-97-; Pacific Coast League , 1998-

Affiliates: Cincinnati Reds (1978-79, '87-92), New York Yankees (1980-84), Detroit Tigers (1985-86), Chicago White Sox (1993-97), Pittsburgh Pirates (1998-2004), Milwaukee Brewers (2005-14), Oakland A's (2015-).

Championships: 1979, 1982, 2005

NASHVILLE XPRESS (1993-94)

Competed in the Southern League

Affiliate: Minnesota Twins (1993-94)

Story by Skip Nipper for The Tennessean

Baseball returns to Sulphur Dell on April 17.

Sure, the new ballpark in north Nashville has a different name: First Tennessee Park. Yet, for many baseball fans in our city, the location of the park is much more meaningful.

THE BEGINNING

In the mid-19th Century, Nashville's recreational area was known as Sulphur Spring Bottom, named because a natural sulphur spring was nearby. The area was designated for a ballfield and was bordered by what we know as Fourth Avenue, Fifth Avenue and Jackson Street. It was known as Athletic Park as early as 1870.

PRO BASEBALL

In 1885, the city built a new grandstand for its professional team, the Nashville Americans. The Americans were a member of the inaugural Southern League. Although the league would go in and out of business during the next 15 years, Athletic Park was Nashville's home ballpark.

SULPHUR SPRING DELL

On Jan. 14, 1908, Nashville Tennessean sports writer Grantland Rice referred to the local ballpark as Sulphur Spring Dellin a column. The name was shortened to Sulphur Dell in a poem a few weeks later.

In later years Nashville Banner sports editor Fred Russell suggested that Rice couldn't find a word to rhyme with Sulphur Spring Bottom, thus the new moniker Sulphur Dell stuck.

GRANDSTAND EXPANSION

New grandstands were constructed for the 1908 season and expanded in 1920. Local amateur and semi-pro teams played at the park when the Nashville Vols of the Southern Association were out of town. These included amateur and semi-pro games.

Tom Wilson's black Nashville Standard Giants also used Sulphur Dell until he renamed the team the Nashville Elite Giants and moved them into their own park 1928.

A view from the stands at the Sulphur Dell stadium.

RECONFIGURATION

The configuration of Sulphur Dell was such that batters had to face the pitcher and look into the sun. At the end of the 1926 season, it was determined that the ballpark would be turned around so that the afternoon sun would not come into play for hitters.

There was another reason for the reconfigured ballpark: new ownership. On Oct. 1, 1926 four investors took over the Nashville Baseball Club. Rogers Caldwell, a local horse breeder; J. H. "Jack" Whaley, co-publisher of Southern Lumberman, a regional publication; Stanley P. Horn, also co-publisher of Southern Lumberman; and Jimmy Hamilton, manager of the Nashville Vols since 1923.

In December 1926, the new owners announced the existing wooden grandstand would be torn down and a new steel and concrete structure would be built. This was a little unusual because two of the owners produced a publication about the wood industry in the southeast.

NEW DIMENSIONS

Because of the shape of the city blocks in which the ballpark was located, the "turned around" Sulphur Dell had unusual outfield dimensions. Left field was 334 feet from home plate, the deepest part of the park was at center field at 421 feet, and right field was only 262 feet.

The closeness of the fans to the players was a distinct feature. From first base to the grandstand was 42 feet; the grandstand to third base was just 26 feet.

The playing surface was below street level, and there was an embankment around the entire outfield that was part of the playing field.

The right field embankment began at 224 feet from home plate, rising at a 45-degree angle toward the fence, ending at 262 feet. The embankment in left field began at 301 feet from home plate.

Fans along the first base line leap to their feet and roar in approval as a drive by Billy Joe Davidson sails over the right field screen in the 9th inning of the first game of two, giving the Nashville Vols an 8-6 victory over Mobile at Sulphur Dell April 23, 1961.

The outfield fence was made of wood and was 16 feet high. Running from the right field foul pole to a point 186 feet toward center field, the fence was capped by a screen that added an additional 30 feet of height but decreased to 22-1/2 feet high midway to center field. In later years the screen height remained the same, but a second tier of signage was added in right field.

1927 OPENER

Built to hold 7,500 fans, the construction was barely finished when the team came home to play exhibition games before the beginning of the 1927 regular season.

On March 25, 1927, The first game in the reconfigured Sulphur Dell was an exhibition game played against the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. The Millers won 5-3 in a game that lasted two hours and five minutes.

Dick Loftus, right fielder for the Millers, hit the first home run in the new configuration.

Blinky Horn, sportswriter for the Nashville Tennessean, referred to right field as the "right center dump" in his account of the game the next day, referring to the unusual design of the ball park and the smell that the nearby city dump and stock yard offered to the lingering odor in the air.

FIRST HOME RUNS

In the fourth inning of an exhibition game between the Vols and Milwaukee on April 1, 1927, pinch hitter John Black hit a home run to become the first Nashville player to hit one over the fence in the new Sulphur Dell. Horn wrote that the ball "cleared the wall beyond the old Fourth Avenue entrance to the bleachers."

After additional exhibition games were played, the Nashville Vols returned to Sulphur Dell for the opening game of the 1927 Southern Association against the Atlanta Crackers. With the Vols losing 10-2, Atlanta's George "Mule" Haas became the first player to hit a home run during the regular season in the new layout, a first-inning shot followed by a fourth-inning blast by Walter Gilbert, also of the Crackers. Attendance was announced at 7,535 fans.

FIRST NIGHT GAME

The first night game was played at Sulphur Dell on May 18, 1931 as the Vols lost to Mobile 8-1.

FLOODING

The low-lying park was prone to flooding in the spring. Early games were often canceled, rescheduled, or moved to Vanderbilt so teams could play. With teams having to play on a field that resembled a "drained-out washtub," players would often mockingly refer to it as "Suffer Hell."

THE BANDBOX

On Opening Day on April 12, 1932 attendance was 14,502. With a seating capacity of 8,000 in the grandstands, the outfield was lined off with rope to accommodate the crowd. It was the largest crowd to see a game at Sulphur Dell.

In 1938 seating capacity was increased to 8,500.

"It was a band box," says Robert "Pat" Burgess, who was scoreboard operator and public address announcer as a teenager in the mid-1940s. "Short right field was what made it tough, with the fence and the screen added to the fence. Some guys had the 'Sulphur Dell stroke,' an uppercut swing that was needed to slug one out of the park.

"A lot of players didn't have it, and their careers suffered when playing in parks with normal field dimensions."

"No matter what we called it, it was our home ballpark and we loved it," says Gene Smith, a member of the Old Timers Baseball Association and former minor leaguer, "and it had the best pitcher's mound I ever threw off of."

NEW FACADE

On Opening Day April 17, 1951, Nashville's Sulphur Dell celebrated a new look that included a remodeled façade, new turnstiles, brick walls, wider exits and other improvements. Unchanged were the "dumps" in the outfield and the short right field fence.

CONCERTS

But Sulphur Dell was not just a baseball venue. Concerts by Tex Ritter, Jackie Wilson and James Brown were held there. So was Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars, Esther Williams Water Follies, the Shrine Circus and more. Barn-storming baseball exhibitions were held at the memorable ballpark.

Nashville Vols General Manager Bill Harbour takes a long look at the famous right field screen of Sulphur Dell after learning Jan. 26, 1962 that baseball is dead in Nashville for the 1962 season. This will be the Dell's first year of idleness since 1901, the year that the Southern League was organized.

FINAL GAMES

When attendance dwindled in the 1950s, attention to the ballpark did, too. The last professional baseball game was played at Sulphur Dell on Sept. 8, 1963, when the Vols swept a doubleheader form visiting Lynchburg in a South Atlantic League doubleheader. Nashville outfielder Charlie Teuscher belted three home runs in the doubleheader.

THE LAST HURRAH

Amateur baseball was played at Sulphur Dell in 1964, and in 1965 it was turned into a speedway. After becoming a tow-in lot for Metro Nashville, Sulphur Dell was demolished on April 16, 1969.

NEW BALLPARK

In 2013, Mayor Karl Dean and Sounds owner Frank Ward announced that a new ballpark would be built on the site. First Tennessee Park opens April 17.

History of the Negro Leagues in Nashville

One of the most important chapters in Nashville's baseball history is the African-American participation of the sport.

Story by Skip Nipper, for The Tennessean

The opening of First Tennessee Park has brought a lot of attention to the history of baseball in Nashville. One of the most important chapters in our city's baseball history is the African-American participation.

One of the earliest mentions of African-American participants in a local baseball game was reported in the Nashville Daily Union and American on Sept. 18, 1866, with reference to "Brownlow's Black Boys Base Ball Club." It was probably a reference to Gov. William Brownlow, who was a proponent of extending civil rights to African-Americans.

A real team or just a gathering of players from the black community, the game took place that month in Sulphur Springs Bottom.

FIRST BLACK TEAMS

Teams organized by the 1900s were the Baptist Printers, Methodist Publishing House, North Nashville Tigers and Nashville Standard Giants. The Fisk University and Pearl High School ball fields hosted games regularly. Often Negro League teams traveled to Nashville to challenge the best local teams.

STANDARD GIANTS

On Feb. 19, 1907, a meeting was held at the residence of J. W. White to organize the Standard Giants Base Ball club. This meeting was reported in the Feb. 22, 1907 edition of the Nashville Globe:

"Manager White called the house to order and Mr. C. B. Reaves was made President: Mr. J. W. White Manager, and W. G. Sublett, Secretary, and by unanimous voice of the house Mr. Howard Petway who did stunts for one of the professional teams of Chicago last season, was elected captain…

"…Standards will travel extensively, having arranged games with Memphis, Hot Springs, Little Rock…playing all the leading teams, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Birmingham, Macon, New Orleans, and Beaumont, Texas…One peculiarity is that every member claims Nashville as his home. It is composed exclusively of home talent, a characteristic no other team can boast of, and it is certain that every member will put up a fight for the glory of his home."

CAPITAL CITY LEAGUE

By 1910 the Capital City League was the premier league for African-American teams, with the Standard Giants and other league members playing at Greenwood Park and Sulphur Dell. In 1918 the club was purchased by Thomas T. Wilson, a native of Atlanta who had moved with his family to Nashville where his parents studied medicine at Meharry Medical College.

As a young man, Wilson had accumulated wealth through his interests in entertainment, a local rail line and ownership in local night clubs.

On March 26, 1920, Wilson and seven investors pooled $5,000 and chartered a Tennessee corporation, Nashville Negro Baseball Association and Amusement Company, for the purpose "of organizing base ball clubs and encouraging the art of playing the game of baseball according to high and honorable standards and of encouraging the establishment of a league of clubs in different section(s) of the state."

Turkey Stearnes

Wilson contributed to the baseball success of his players, namely Eddie Noel, Walter Campbell, Henry O'Neal, Joe Bills, Haywood Rhodes and Blaine Boyd. New teams continued to form and included the White Sox and Maroons. One of the prominent players in the 1917 Capital City League who played for the Black Sox was Herbert T. "Hub" McGavock. Playing for the Standard Giants in 1920, after a stint in the Army, he returned to play with a New Orleans club where he was a teammate of future Hall of Famer Turkey Stearnes.

TURKEY STEARNES

Norman Thomas "Turkey" Stearnes was a native Nashvillian who began his career in Nashville in 1920 after attending Pearl High. He later played 10 seasons for the Detroit Stars in the Negro National League and was noted as a prolific home run hitter; reportedly he slugged 144 home runs in 585 games. After joining the Chicago American Giants in 1932, Stearnes played in the inaugural East-West All Star Game in 1933.

NEW NAME, NEW PARK

Wilson renamed the Negro League Nashville Elite Giants in 1921, and announced that manager J. A. Newton would play "all-comers," including white-only teams. In 1928 a new ballpark had been constructed by Wilson to hold 8,000 fans. Located in Trimble Bottom, the largest Negro community in Nashville, Wilson Park would not only host games but community events, both white and black.

Tom Wilson Park was often used by the Nashville Vols and many times preseason games were held versus the Elite Giants.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

The Elites played in the professional Negro Southern League until granted membership in the Negro National League for 1930. Just coming off the Great Depression several teams pulled out of the league, including the Birmingham Black Barons, who sold Satchel Paige, one of their stars to Wilson. With Paige on the Elite Giants, Wilson moved his club to Cleveland (becoming the Cubs) but returned to Nashville for 1931 when the NNL folded. Paige never played a game in a Nashville uniform.

Reorganizing the Negro Southern League in 1932, Gus Greenlee's Pittsburgh Crawfords were scheduled for the home opener, drawing a large crowd.

"In 1932 with Joe Hewitt as manager, the Elite Giants were second-half champions and played Chicago American Giants in 'World Series,'" relates Bill Plott, a former sports writer whose book "The Negro Southern League" is soon to be published. "World Series is a very arbitrary designation by Chicago and Nashville newspapers; 'Postseason Series' is probably more accurate. Chicago won 4 games to 3."

In 1933, a new Negro National League was restructured and the Elite Giants remained a member of the league through 1947. Wilson moved the club to Columbus, Ohio, in 1935, Washington, D. C., in 1936-37 and Baltimore in 1938-1950.

Jim Gilliam

LOCAL HEROES

Henry Kimbro was a member of the Elite Giants for 12 seasons beginning in 1937, playing in All-Star games from 1943-1947. Born in Nashville in 1912, he grew up on the sandlots of his hometown and played for 17 years in the Negro Leagues. Known for his strong outfield arm and speed around the bases, he retired following the 1953 season with the Birmingham Black Barons and owned a taxi service and a gas station in Nashville.

A quartet of successful Nashville players had connections to the Elite Giants. Clinton "Butch" McCord began his baseball career in 1947 when he signed with the Nashville Cubs out of Tennessee State University. The next season McCord was with the Baltimore Elite Giants. The ball field at Tennessee State University is named in his honor.

During World War II, Nashville's Jim Zapp played on Naval championship teams in Pearl Harbor and Staten Island. After his discharge his professional baseball career was set in motion, first with the Baltimore Elite Giants but most notably as a member of the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons. In Game 5 of the league playoffs, Zapp hit a towering home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the score before his team beat the Kansas City Monarchs.

Sidney Bunch began his career with the Baltimore Elite Giants, too, then signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers affiliate in Billings, Mont., in 1951 and was expected to move up the ranks until his Marine unit was called up during the Korean War.

Jim "Junior" Gilliam was an All Star for the Elite Giants in 1948-1950 before signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Gilliam was National League Rookie of the Year in 1953, became a coach with the Dodgers in 1965 and remained with the club until his death in 1978.

Columnist Dave Ammenheuser contributed to this story.

Workmen are installing the infield sod at Herschel Greer Stadium April 25, 1978 in anticipation of the next night home opener between the Nashville Sounds and Savannah Braves.

Story by Dave Ammenheuser, dammenhueser@tennessean.com

In the 130-year history of professional baseball in Nashville, there have been more than 3,500 players wear the hometown uniform. Who were the best?

More than 900 of those players used Nashville as a step toward the majors. Many appeared in just a few major league games. A few dozen went on to play in All-Star and World Series games. Four are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Here's my view of the top 25 players ever to appear in Music City. The selection criteria was simple: the player had to play at least one game in a Nashville uniform as a professional. The basis of the team is how the players performed in the majors.

THE STARTERS

Smokey Burgess of the Pittsburgh Pirates relaxes on the dugout steps in Pittsburgh June 6, 1959 shortly before a game.

Pitcher: Waite Hoyt

Hoyt pitched for the Nashville Vols in 1918, when he posted a 5-10 record with a 2.04 ERA in 19 games. He went on to pitch 21 years in the majors (1918-38) with a 237-182 record for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, New York Giants, Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia. He was 6-4 in 12 World Series games. Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

Catcher: Smoky Burgess

Burgess was a catcher for the Vols in 1948, when he batted .386 in 116 games. He went on to play 18 seasons in the majors (Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Chicago White Sox), batting .295 in 1,691 games. He had 126 home runs, 673 RBIs and played in nine All-Star games.

First baseman: Jake Daubert

Daubert played for the Vols in 1908, when he batted .262 in 138 games. He went on to play in 15 seasons in the majors for Brooklyn and Cincinnati, batting .303 in 2,014 games. He led the National League in batting in 1913 and 1914. He was NL MVP in 1913.

Second baseman: Lonny Frey

Frey played for the Vols in 1933, when he appeared in 124 games and batted .294. He went on to a 14-year career in the majors, playing for Brooklyn, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati, New York Yankees and New York Giants. He batted .269 in 1,535 games and led the majors in steals (22) in 1940.

Third baseman: Robin Ventura

Ventura played for the Nashville Sounds in 1997 on a rehabilitation assignment, appearing in five games and batting .400 in 17 plate appearances. He played in 2,079 games for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, batting .267 with 294 home runs. He played in two All-Star games. He currently manages the Chicago White Sox.

Shortstop: Barry Larkin

Larkin played for the Sounds in 1989 during an injury rehab assignment and went 5-for-5 in two games. In the majors he batted .295 in 2,180 games over 19 seasons. A 12-time All-Star, he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Outfielder: Willie McGee

McGee played for the Sounds in 1980-81, leading them in hitting in 1981 with a .322 average. He played in 178 games in a Nashville uniform, hitting eight home runs and stealing 31 bases. He went on to play 18 seasons in the majors for St. Louis, San Francisco and Boston, and in 2,201 games he batted .295 with 352 stolen bases. He won the National League batting title in 1985 and 1990, was named NL MVP in 1985 and appeared in four All-Star games.

Kiki Cuyler, Chicago Cubs outfielder is shown in posed batting action Sept. 22, 1932. Location unknown.

Outfielder: Kiki Cuyler

Cuyler played for the Vols in 1923, batting .340 in 149 games. He had already appeared briefly in the majors with Pittsburgh, playing in one game in 1921 and one in '22. He played in 11 games for the Pirates in 1923 before earning a full-time job the following season. He also played for Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati and Brooklyn during his 18-year big-league career (1921-38). He stole 328 bases, leading the league four times. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968.

Outfielder: "Turkey" Stearnes

Stearnes played for the Nashville Standard Giants in the Southern Negro League in 1920-21. He went on to play 20 seasons with the Detroit Stars, the Kansas City Monarchs, Chicago American Giants and Philadelphia Stars. Although records are incomplete, he was known for hitting home runs. In 585 games, he hit 144 home runs. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000.

Designated hitter: Nelson Cruz

Cruz played for the Sounds in 2005-06, appearing in 164 games and hitting 31 home runs with 100 RBIs. Now with the Seattle Mariners, Cruz is entering his 11th major-league season and has appeared in 963 games. He has 197 home runs, including an American League-best 40 in 2014 with the Baltimore Orioles. He has appeared in three All-Star games.

THE RESERVES

Infielder: Prince Fielder

Fielder spent the 2005 season with the Sounds, batting .291 with 28 home runs and 86 RBIs. Now he's entering his 11th major-league season, his second with Texas after two with Detroit and seven with Milwaukee. He has 288 career home runs, including a league-best 50 in 2007. A five-time All-Star, Fielder was MVP of the 2007 game.

Infielder: J.J. Hardy

Hardy played in 18 games for the Sounds in 2009, batting .254 with four home runs in 74 plate appearances. Now the starting shortstop for Baltimore, he's in his 11th major-league season. He played for Milwaukee and Minnesota before a trade to the Orioles in 2011. He's a two-time All-Star. In 1,259 games he has a .312 batting average.

Otis Nixon of the 1981 Nashville Sounds minor AA baseball team.

Infielder: Don Mattingly

Mattingly is one of the most beloved Sounds players. He spent the 1981 season in Nashville, which was in Class AA at the time, and batted .316 in 141 games. He went on to play 14 seasons with the New York Yankees, retiring in 1995 at 34. He led the American League in doubles three times, hits twice and RBIs once. Six times an All-Star, he was AL MVP in 1985. He currently manages the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Outfielder: Otis Nixon

Nixon spent parts of two seasons (1981, '82) with the Sounds. He batted .251 with 72 stolen bases in 127 games in 1981, then batted .283 with 61 steals in 72 games in '82. He played 17 seasons in the majors with the New York Yankees, Cleveland, Montreal, Atlanta, Boston, Texas, Toronto, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota and Atlanta. He batted .270 with 620 stolen bases in 1,709 games.

Outfielder: Tim Raines

Raines played for the Sounds in 1993 during a three-game injury rehabilitation assignment, hitting .455 in 13 plate appearances. He played 23 seasons in the majors for Montreal, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Oakland, Baltimore and Florida. In 2,502 games, he batted .294 and stole 808 bases. He led the league in steals four times and was named to the All-Star game seven times.

Carl Sawatski played for the 1949-50 Nashville Vols.

Catcher: Carl Sawatski

Sawatski played for the 1949-50 Nashville Vols, appearing in 208 games and hitting 69 home runs, many of them over the short right-field porch at Sulphur Dell. He played in the majors from 1948-1963, missing two years because of military service during the Korean War. In 633 games for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia and St. Louis, he hit 58 home runs and batted .242. He was with Milwaukee when the Braves won the World Series in 1957.

Pitcher: Norm Charlton

Charlton played for the Sounds in 1987 and '88, appearing in 45 games and recording a 13-18 record. When he moved to the majors he became a reliever, playing 13 seasons and appearing in 605 games for Cincinnati, Seattle, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta and Tampa Bay. He posted a 51-54 record with 97 saves.

Pitcher: R.A. Dickey

Dickey had a 13-6 record pitching for his hometown Sounds in 2007, when he appeared in 31 games and posted an ERA of 3.72. He's entering his 13th season in the majors, having played for Texas, Seattle, Minnesota, New York Mets and Toronto. In 2012, he posted a 20-6 record with a 2.73 ERA and won the National League Cy Young Award. He is coming off back-to-back 14-13 seasons with Toronto. He has an 89-82 career record and 3.98 ERA.

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher R.A. Dickey throws during a spring training baseball workout, Monday, Feb. 23, 2015, in Dunedin, Fla.

Pitcher: Eric Gagne

Putting Gagne on this team is a bit of a stretch. He appeared in just two games for the Sounds in 2008, pitching just 1.2 innings. In the majors he pitched 10 seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas, Boston and Milwaukee. He had a 33-26 record with 187 saves, including a league-high 55 in 2003 when he won the National League Cy Young Award. He appeared in three All-Star games.

Pitcher: Jim Maloney

Maloney posted a 14-5 record with a 2.79 ERA for the Vols in 1960. Later that season, the Cincinnati Reds promoted him to the majors and he spent 12 seasons there, appearing in 302 games and posting a 134-84 record with a 3.19 ERA. He won 23 games in 1963 and led the National League with five shutouts in 1966. He appeared in the 1965 All-Star game.

Pitcher: Claude Osteen

Born in Caney Spring, Tenn., Osteen pitched for the Vols briefly in 1957, appearing in two games and going 1-1. Later that season, he made his major-league debut with Cincinnati. He went on to pitch for Washington, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston, St. Louis and Chicago White Sox. Over 18 seasons he had a 196-195 record in 541 games with a 3.30 ERA. He was a three-time All-Star (1967, '70, '73).

Pitcher: Dave Righetti

Righetti appeared in 16 games for the Sounds in 1995, posting a 4-5 record and 3.23 ERA. He spent 16 seasons in the majors with the New York Yankees, San Francisco, Oakland, Toronto and the Chicago White Sox. He led the league in saves (46) in 1986. He had 252 career saves and posted an 82-79 record with a 3.46 ERA. He's now pitching coach for the Giants.

Pitcher: Johnny Sain

Sain pitched for the Vols in 1940-41, appearing in 71 games and posting a 14-16 record. He made his major-league debut with the Boston Braves in 1942, then spent the next three years in military service during World War II. He returned to the majors in 1946 and played through 1955. His career record of 139-116 includes four 20-win seasons. He led the National League with 24 wins in 1948.

Pitcher: Johnny Vander Meer

Vander Meer pitched for the Vols in 1936, appearing in 10 games and posting an 0-1 record with a 7.25 ERA. He was in the majors from 1937-51, spending 11 seasons with Cincinnati, one season with the Chicago Cubs and one game with Cleveland in 1951. His career numbers: 119-121 record with a 3.44 ERA in 346 games. He appeared in four All-Star games. He is known for throwing back-to-back no-hitters in 1938, the only time that feat has been accomplished in the major leagues.

Brooklyn Dodgers' manager Chuck Dressen is seen on the second day of the playoff between the Dodgers and the Giants, Oct. 2, 1951, at the Polo Grounds in New York.

Pitcher: Bucky Walters

Walters appeared in 11 games for the Vols in 1931, batting .200. He did not pitch during his season with Nashville, but later converted to pitcher and spent 16 seasons in the majors. He posted a 198-160 record, pitching for Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Boston from 1934-50. He led the league in wins three times, was named the National League MVP in 1939 and was a six-time All-Star. He also played other positions when he was not pitching, appearing in 184 games as a third baseman and batting .243 in 2,148 plate appearances.

MANAGER

Chuck Dressen

Dressen was a player-manager for the Vols in 1932-33, appearing in 162 games. He batted .188 in 1932 and .332 in 1933. He went on to manage 16 years in the majors: Cincinnati (1934-37), Brooklyn (1951-53), Washington (1955-57), Milwaukee Braves (1960-61) and Detroit (1963-66). He won the National League pennant with Brooklyn in 1957-58.

Reach Dave Ammenheuser at 615-259-8352 and on Twitter @NashSportsEd.

Story by Mike Organ, morgan@tennessean.com

Those who were involved in the opening of Herschel Greer Stadium have a word of advice for those involved in the opening of First Tennessee Park: Don't forget the seats and sod.

Those were a couple of key components that were the last to get done when the Nashville Sounds played their first home game.

That was on April 26, 1978. The seats, castoffs from Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, arrived just in time to be bolted in, and the sod for the field didn't get laid until the day before opening day.

It made for a hectic frenzy of preparation for the Double-A club that would bring professional baseball back to the city for the first time in 15 years.

"For me it was a nightmare," said Larry Schmittou, the Sounds original owner, who stayed on as Vanderbilt's baseball coach while he built Greer Stadium. "Two days before we were opening Greer, Vanderbilt was playing Evansville and my wife came down to tell me my mother just passed away."

After coaching the Commodores in that game and then taking care of his mother's affairs, Schmittou went back to work on getting Greer opened.

The sod arrived the following day, dead.

Another load was ordered for express delivery and made it to the park not long after. But the crew that had shown up to lay the sod had left.

So part owner and general manager Farrell Owens called up a local radio station and announced the Sounds were having a "sod party" at the new park.

"Probably 50 or so people showed up and helped lay that sod," Schmittou said. "A guy named Richard Taylor, just a volunteer, got on that roller and he must have stayed on that thing 16 straight hours rolling that sod in."

Some of the city's most famous folks also got involved, including country music legend Conway Twitty, an original co-owner who threw out the first pitch for the first game and wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty.

"They took us all out the night before at about 8 o'clock to see the stadium," said George Weicker, the Sounds starting first baseman at the time who is now the baseball coach at Franklin Road Academy. "One of the first persons we met was Conway Twitty. He was directing where to put the pitcher's rubber. It had not been laid yet. We were looking around and thinking, 'We're playing tomorrow night and they're just now building a mound?'"

The Sounds players weren't alone in their uneasiness about the playing conditions. Their opponents, the Savannah Braves, also expressed concern.

"Both teams refused to take infield," Owens said. "We had put the sod down and put the sand in between and had rolled it and did everything we could, but it still wasn't good enough for the players. They would take a chance playing on it in a game, but they didn't want to put themselves at any risk beyond that."

There were other issues with the $1 million facility, which Schmittou built using his own money, a bank loan and with the help of local investors.

"We had two ladies restrooms open, one men's and a few porto-toilets," Schmittou said. "Those guys found some creative places to use the restroom is all that I can say."

Work was still being done getting the backstop built on the day of the game.

There were electrical problems. A woman was shocked when she touched a wall in the restroom because a ground wire was not connected.

Fortunately, she was a longtime friend of Schmittou's who didn't make a big deal about it and the problem was quickly fixed.

There were only two concession stands and both quickly ran out of food. Schmittou's wife, Shirley, worked in one of the concession stands.

A slope in left field was so steep that if the left fielder played where he was supposed to he could not see home plate.

And then there was the product on the field.

"We had a terrible team," Schmittou said. "We had great pitching and a terrible team."

The Sounds, affiliates at the time of the Cincinnati Reds, did, however, manage to win that first game 12-4 over the Braves before a large, but not capacity crowd of 8,156.

Catcher Joe Griffin led a 16-hit outburst for the Sounds by driving in five runs with four hits.

Most of the fans were unaware of the chaos that had taken place in order to get the first game played.

"It was a very festive crowd; there was incredible enthusiasm," said Chuck Goggin, the Sounds first manager. "Nashville hadn't had professional baseball in quite a few years and it was obvious that the fans were glad it was back. The players fed off that enthusiasm and they played well that night."

Because Greer was not ready for the start of the 1978 season the Sounds played 10 road games before the home opener.

That made playing in the new facility even more special for the team.

"Finally getting to play at home was all we could think about," said Steve Hughes, the Sounds first starting shortstop who now lives in Franklin. "We got off to a rough start and Chuck Goggin kept saying, 'Just hang in there. Once we get home and get settled, it will get better.' So we were ecstatic about playing that first home game. It was a new stadium, there were country music celebrities like Conway Twitty there to meet us and it was a big crowd. It was almost like getting to the big leagues."

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

Planning on going to First Tennessee Park this summer with the hope of seeing one of the Oakland A's top prospects?

Hmmm. There may be better reasons to visit the park during its inaugural season.

The Sounds have a lot of talent, but only a few of the players on the current roster are ranked among the top prospects in the Oakland farm system.

Why? Blame trades.

Nashville Sounds

Between July 2013 to July 2014, the A's traded five of the six players that the franchise drafted in the first round between 2008-13. The only remaining No. 1 picks: 2011's Sonny Gray, who is now a mainstay in the A's starting rotation; and 2014's Matt Chapman, who is currently on the disabled list and will likely play for the Class A Stockton Ports of the California League when he is healthy.

Trading away those top picks helped bring the A's major-league talent which led to playoff appearances three straight seasons.

Another trade in December has helped reload the Oakland minor league system. When the A's traded third baseman Josh Donaldson to Toronto, they received three quality minor league players who rank among the organization's top prospects.

After reviewing several minor league baseball publication's rankings of the A's farm system, here's my ranking of the organization's Top Dozen prospects. The comments come from Oakland A's farm director Keith Lieppman.

THE AFFILIATES

Nashville's pro baseball teams have been the major league affiliate of many teams through the years:

THE SOUNDS

2015: Oakland A's

2005-14: Milwaukee Brewers

1998-2004: Pittsburgh Pirates

1993-1997: Chicago White Sox

1987-1992: Cincinnati Reds

1985-86: Detroit Tigers

1980-84: New York Yankees

1978-79: Cincinnati Reds

THE XPRESS

1993-94: Minnesota Twins

THE VOLS

1963: Los Angeles Angels

1961: Minnesota Twins

1955-60: Cincinnati Reds

1952-54: New York Giants

1943-51: Chicago Cubs

1938-40: Brooklyn Dodgers

1936-37: Cincinnati Reds

1934-35: New York Giants

1920: Chicago White Sox

1908: Cleveland Indians

Story byDave Ammenheuser,dammenheus@tennessean.com

Professional baseball comes home to Sulphur Dell on Friday.

The Nashville Sounds open First Tennessee Park when they host the Colorado Springs Sky Sox on the same ground that professional baseball was first played in our city in the 19th century and continued to be played until Sept. 8, 1963.

A look at the baseball field dimensions

The last pitch in that final game was thrown 18,449 days ago.

Over the past year, while researching our nine-inning (part) series, "Coming Home: Baseball Returns to Sulphur Dell," there's one theme that resonated with former players and fans: Nashvillians loved their ol' ballpark.

They loved it for many reasons, among them: its unusual field dimensions, its uphill slope in the outfield and its championship Nashville Vols teams.

Most of all, they loved it because it was theirs. It wasn't perfect. But it was a symbolic of Nashville at the time. It was more than a ballpark. It was a gathering place that united the community.

As our new ballpark opens its doors Friday, a ballpark is again symbolic of what's happening in and around our city.

From its spiffy exterior to the padded seats, from the digital guitar-shaped scoreboard to the luxury suites, First Tennessee Park is part of our city's 21st century expansion.

In a city now oozing with venues for peoples with all types of interests, our new ballpark is another piece of our ever-growing city landscape.

Is the ballpark perfect? Of course not. Despite the city and the Sounds' good intentions of providing a parking plan, traffic will be an issue. Getting to Friday's opener won't be easy.

That issue will be resolved after the new parking deck opens. It should not deter the emotion felt of baseball coming home to Sulphur Dell.

To our ballpark.

Play ball.

Reach columnist Dave Ammenheuser at 615-259-8352 and on Twitter @NashSportsEd.

It's Opening Day from A to Z!

Headed to the inaugural game of First Tennessee Park? Before you go, here's a fan guide to the park, everything you need to know, from A to Z:

A: Athletics. The Sounds are now the Triple-A minor league affiliate of the Oakland Athletics (also known simply as the A's). The A's replaced the Milwaukee Brewers after the 2014 season.

B: Baseball field dimensions. The outfield has an asymmetrical shape. The left-field line is 330 feet from home plate, left-center is 386, center is 403, right-center is 388 and the right-field line is 310.

C: Concourse. The walking area is wide (from 24 feet to 36 feet) and you'll have a direct view of the ballpark while walking to the six permanent concession stands or the restrooms.

A look at the infield on Tuesday April 14, 2015.

D: Dugouts. The Sounds are on the third-base side, the opponents are on the first-base side. The expansive dugouts (88 feet long, 16 feet wide) are big enough that the relief pitchers could sit in the dugout instead of along the bullpens, which are in the playing area along the left- and right-field lines.

E: Entrance. The main entrance to First Tennessee Park is on Jackson Street. Upon entering the gate, you get an immediate view of the park from directly behind home plate. A second entrance is along Fifth Avenue, between Harrison and Jackson.

F: Fireworks. The Sounds will have fireworks 14 times this season (after every Friday home game, plus the season finale on Sept. 3). The fireworks will be shot from trailers that will be rolled onto the center field grass.

G: Guitar. The iconic symbol has returned. This version has an LED scoreboard that measures 142 feet long, 55 feet high and is 12.5 feet above the outfield concourse. The digital display is equal to 860 32-inch wide televisions.

The guitar scoreboard

H: History. The Sounds are paying respect to Nashville's baseball heritage with signs and images throughout the ballpark and the nearby greenway, from historical photos and short biographies to wall-size murals.

I: Infield. The dirt for the infield came from Lacey Springs, Ala. There's more than 13,000 square feet of the red clay in the infield.

J: Junior Gilliam Way.Midway through the season, the ballpark's address is expected to change to 19 Junior Gilliam Way. The address will honor Junior Gilliam, one of the city's greatest major-league players. Gilliam's uniform number was 19. The Los Angeles Dodgers retired his number in 1978. The Metro Planning Commission and Metro Historical Commission have already approved the change. The next step is to file the legislation needed to change the current street name, Jackson, between Second and Fifth avenues north. The proposal must be approved by Metro Council and will undergo readings on April 20 and May 19.

K: Keys. Mayor Karl Dean, Sounds owners Frank Ward and Masahiro Honzawa, Oakland A's president Michael Crowley and other special guests will hold two ceremonial events prior to the opening game. The duo will cut the ribbon in a 4:30 p.m. ceremony, then symbolically turn the key and open the gates at 5:30 p.m.

L: Luxury suites. There are four field-level suites, each with 33 exterior seats and interior lounge space that can seat another 22. These suites are directly behind home plate and are only accessible with a ticket to them. There are also 18 club-level suites, each with 12 outdoor balcony seats and four indoor drink-rail seats.

A look at the merchandise available for sale at the new ball park.

M: Merchandise store. The Sounds official store is accessible from the concourse during game days and from Jackson Street when games are not being played. The shop is 2,990 square feet and has all types of Sounds and baseball memorabilia.

N: National anthem. Charles Esten, star of the "Nashville" television series, will sing the anthem prior to the first pitch.

O: Outfield seating area. If you don't prefer to sit in a traditional stadium seat, there are other options along the outfield. In left field, the grass berm seats up to 1,500. Bring a blanket and sit, eat and try to catch a home run. There is also a bar beyond the center field wall and table-top seating and the restaurant Band Box beyond right field. Strategic Hospitality is known around the city for its portfolio of businesses including Paradise Park, The Patterson House, The Catbird Seat and Pinewood Social.

P: Parking. Plan to arrive early to find a place to park. The 1,000-space garage beyond center field won't be ready until the 2016 season. That means finding parking from around the neighborhood and downtown. The Sounds and the city have a suggested plan, including $5 parking at the garage at the Metro courthouse. You can see the Sounds' suggestions for parking atnashvillesounds.com/parking.

Q: Quick build. The first shovel of dirt was moved on March 4, 2014. The first pitch will be thrown 410 days later.

R: Restrooms. There are eight women's restrooms with 94 toilets; there are eight men's restrooms with 21 toilets and 40 urinals.

S: Schedule. The Sounds play a 144-game schedule, including 72 at home.

A look at the tickets to opening day.

T: Tickets. The opener is sold out. Advanced purchased tickets are $9-$30. The most expensive are the club seats. The tickets are $2 more on game days. Also, the outfield berm seats are available only on game days (except the opener) and are $7. Tickets can be purchased at 615-690-HITS, on the team's website or at the ballpark ticket office.

U: Umbrellas. Leave them at home. They will not be permitted in First Tennessee Park. With the extra wide concourse, there's plenty of room to stand under cover if it rains.

V: Venue. The ballpark will be used for more than just baseball games. Sounds event coordinator Marcus Plumb is the contact if your group would like to hold an event at the ballpark. The club level can accommodate up to 300. The entire 10,000-seat facility could be used for concerts and other events.

W: Wifi. There will be wifi available throughout the ballpark.

X: Xtra surprise. The Sounds will make one special personality announcement during the opener which will likely surprise many long-time fans.

Y: Yes: "Yes, we're ready!" exclaimed General Manager Garry Arthur this week.

Z: Zito. Barry Zito, the 2002 Cy Young Award winner, is a member of the Sounds pitching staff. His first start at First Tennessee Park will likely come early next week.

Reach Dave Ammenheuser at dammenheus@tennessean.com and on Twitter @NashSportsEd.

Fans Todd Sweat and sons Owen and Ford get excited in the bottom of the ninth at First Tennessee Park Friday.

Story by Joey Garrison, jgarrison@tennessean.com

It left more than a half-century ago, but baseball is back at Sulphur Dell.

And though the clock was ticking, Mayor Karl Dean andFirst Tennessee Park's construction crew got it done on time.

Fans soaked in history and views of the downtown skyline. Neighbors watched from balconies of condos beyond center field. Kids munched on hot dogs and cotton candy. A brass band welcomed visitors. And baseball, at 7:09 p.m. on Friday night, returned to North Nashville near Jefferson Street.

"It's been a long time coming, and it is a thrill for me as a baseball fan to be part of this," Dean said, kicking off a pregame ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the new home of the Triple-A Nashville Sounds on its inaugural night. "This will be the best minor league baseball stadium in the country."

Hours later, the mayor put on a No. 15 Sounds jersey with his last name on the back, trotted to the pitching mound, and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Then came, "Play ball." For the record: The Sounds beat the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 3-2 in 10 innings.

Friends Frank Hancock, 10, and Alex Humphrey, 11, have gone to all the past Sounds game but were celebrating opening day First Tennessee Park on Friday April 17, 2015, in Nashville in Tenn.

"We had always heard about (the old) Sulphur Dell," said Anna Primm of Smyna, who came with her husband, John, to be a part of the celebration. "The new stadium fits right in to this historical part of Nashville."

This evening of fanfare — in front of a standing-room only crowd of 10,459 — hadn't always looked promising. Ground broke on the new stadium only 14 months ago. Construction workers fought through an icy winter to meet an ambitious timeline.

Things looked even bleaker more than two years ago. That's when Dean and the Sounds ownership team since 2008, led by Frank Ward of New York, were at a stalemate over where to put a new stadium to replace aging Greer. The two famously made amends on Opening Day 2013 — and it all came full circle Friday night.

"I am forever grateful to all the people who made this project happen, most importantly Mayor Karl Dean," Ward said Friday.

Dean and Ward were joined at pregame festivities by a host of Metro Council members who voted to approve financing for the $75 million municipal-financed stadium; state Sen. Thelma Harper of North Nashville; Carol Yochem, president of the Middle Tennessee Region of First Tennessee Bank; Michael Crowley, president of the Oakland A's, the Sounds' new Major League Baseball affiliate; and Branch Rickey III, president of the Pacific Coast League.

"Mayor Dean really saw a vision and realized what could be possible here," Rickey said, later adding: "Ladies and gentlemen, I think that God is smiling on Nashville today."

Mayor Karl Dean cuts the ribbon as Sounds owner Frank Ward, left, and Gov. Bill Haslam, right , and other dignitaries look on.

In his remarks, Dean highlighted the return of baseball to its original Nashville home — Sulphur Dell, where the first ball games date back to the 1860s. He also billed the new place as an economic jolt to a part of town that needs it, noting that 25 new development projects are already planned for the area. That includes a new Tennessee State Museum, funding for which the governor has gotten approved in his capital budget.

"It's our hope," Gov. Bill Haslam said, "that this entire area will be a tourist area that will draw people to watch baseball, visit the state capitol and visit the state museum."

First Tennessee park isn't without hiccups. Its construction went $10 million over budget. The absence of a state-owned parking garage means fans will have to walk a little farther to get there this year. And at the first game on Friday, vendors ran out of hot chicken.

But on this night, everyone was just happy to have baseball back home.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.

Sounds mark first game in new park with walk-off win

Story by Dave Ammenheuser, dammenheuser@tennessean.comA historic night deserved a memorable moment.

Max Muncy's double in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Billy Burns with the winning run, lifting the Nashville Sounds to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in front of a sellout crowd of 10,459 on the opening night of First Tennessee Park.

"What a beautiful night, the weather cooperated, the fans showed up, the ballpark shined. I don't think you could script it better than to have a walk-off (hit)," Sounds manager Steve Scarsone said. "What a better way than to let the people know we are in town."

Burns led off the 10th with a single. After Joey Wendle struck out, Muncy smacked a line drive into right field. The ball then ricocheted away from Sky Sox right fielder Shane Peterson, allowing Muncy to score all the way from first base.

"It was only fitting that it ends that way," Muncy said. "I was just trying to get a good pitch to put a good swing on. You don't got to do much when Burns is on. Just got to put the ball play."

Neither team had scored since the fourth inning.

Max Muncy, top, celebrates with his teammates Jason Pridie (14), Ryan Cook (48) and Tyler Ladendorf after hitting an RBI double to drive in the winning run in the 10th inning.

Colorado Springs took a 2-0 lead in the top of the inning on Matt Clark and Ben Guez run-scoring singles.

Jason Pridie's two-run single accounted for the Sounds runs in the bottom of the inning. His single scored Wendle and Muncy, who had opened the inning with back-to-back walks.

The rest of the game belonged to the pitchers.

Nashville starter Arnold Leon pitched four innings, allowing the two runs. Pat Venditte pitched three shutout innings, Chad Smith pitched two shutout innings, then Ryan Cook blanked the Sky Sox in the 10th. Cook gained the win, improving his record to 2-0.

The four Sounds pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts, seven by Leon. Colorado Springs had just two hits after the fourth inning.

The victory, which came at 10:25 p.m., ended a long day for the Sounds players and organizational staff.

The team left Oklahoma City early this morning, however their plane was delayed during a layover in Dallas.

The Sounds front office staff arrived as early as 6 a.m., busily preparing First Tennessee Park for its debut.

Reach Dave Ammenheuser at 615-259-8352 and on Twitter @NashSportsEd.

Nashville Sounds fans lounge in the lawn ticket section of the new First Tennessee Park on Friday night.

Sounds ballpark has 'major league' look, fans say

Story by Holly Meyer, hmeyer@tennessean.com

Nashville Sounds fans not only got to root for the home team Friday night, but they also were able to take in the brand new ballpark.

With an overwhelming consensus, the fans think First Tennessee Park is great from all angles.

Behind the Sounds dugout

A great view of the diamond is what led Zachary Appleby and his wife Desiree to snag season tickets in the seats just behind the home team's dugout. The Nashville couple, who are big baseball fans, have traveled to stadiums across the country, and on Friday night they were admiring the Sounds upgrade from their new seats.

"It has the major league look and feel to it," Zachary Appleby said.

The design of the ballpark's concourse was a big plus for Zachary Appleby, who appreciates being able to see the game even when he's not in his seat.

"You don't miss anything," he said.

Under the overhang

Jay Sexton and his 5-year-old son Jack sat in the back row of Section 110 covered by the second-story overhang.

"There's a good view pretty much anywhere you are," Jay Sexton said. "I think it's really well done, beautifully built."

The father-and-son pair, who are from Franklin, attended games at Greer Stadium, the Sounds' former ballpark, and were happy to see the return of the guitar-shaped scoreboard.

Patio seats

Adam Kruszynski, 14, said the table seats between center and left field looked like a comfortable place to watch the game, so he and his mother, Elena Cruz, grabbed one and settled in for the ballpark opener.

Cruz said the ballpark had a warm and inviting feel to it on Friday night.

"I think it feels like a family game," Cruz said.

Lawn seats

Kate Neff and her boyfriend, Jon Shoemaker, lounged on a blanket in the lawn ticket section. Shoemaker is a big baseball fan and hopes to return for many games this season. While Neff wasn't as interested in the game, she was enjoying a night at the ballpark.

"It's a fun experience just to hang out here on the grass," Neff said.

Outfield bar

Jim Heidman and Mike Noonan wore Chicago Blackhawks jerseys as they stood in the outfield bar section of the new stadium. In Nashville for the hockey playoffs, the Chicago friends decided to turn their Friday night into a sports doubleheader and stopped by the Sounds game before heading to Bridgestone Arena.

They praised the layout of the concourse and were especially impressed by the guitar-shaped scoreboard and big screen.

"That's the coolest scoreboard I've ever seen," Noonan said

Reach Holly Meyer at 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer.

Ex-Nashville Vols reunite at Sounds ballpark opener

Story by Dave Ammenheuser, dammenheuser@tennessean.com

It had been 59 years since Bobby Durnbaugh and Roy Pardue last saw other before they reunited at Friday's inaugural game at First Tennessee Park.

It only took about 59 seconds before the two began sharing stories about playing baseball at Sulphur Dell.

They were two of four former Nashville Vols to attend the inaugural Nashville Sounds game at the new park. As they chatted, they were just a few hundred feet from where their own ballpark once stood.

"This is fantastic, much more than I ever expected," Durnbaugh said. "It's outstanding, but I loved our old ballpark, too."

Durnbaugh made the trip from his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, to see the new ballpark and to have a reunion with former Vols players Larry Taylor, Buddy Gilbert and Pardue.

"Don't believe a thing that he's telling you," said Taylor, who still lives in Nashville. "They were both cheaters on the diamond."

From left, Buddy Gilbert, Larry Taylor, Roy Pardue and Bobby Durnbaugh at First Tennessee Park on opening night.

The men laughed.

And while they admired the new ballpark, they spent more time talking about what it was like to play at Sulphur Dell, which closed in 1963.

They shared more stories.

Some of them true. Some of them slightly exaggerated.

All four played for the Nashville Vols of the old Southern Association in the 1950s. They are among an estimated three dozen former Vols who are still alive. Some return to the annual Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association banquet each winter.

"It's hard to believe the transformation of this area," said Gilbert, a center fielder who played for the Vols in 1958-59 and '61. Now living in Knoxville, he was outside the Jackson Street gate three hours before the first pitch. He couldn't wait to get inside to see the ballpark and reunite with his old friends. "I seldom use the word awesome, but this place is awesome."

Durnbaugh continued with his chiding of his buddy, Pardue.

"This guy would dig a big hole on the mound while pitching," Durnbaugh said.

Pardue simply smiled before hugging his former teammate.

While the Sounds did not officially recognize the former Vols during Friday's opener, team owner Frank Ward and his staff have gone out of their way to bring back Nashville's baseball history to the new ballpark.

Murals of bygone teams and their players cover the walls of the suites; historical photos and information tidbits are attached to the interior park's directional signage.

The biggest tribute to Nashville's pro baseball history may have gone unnoticed by many in the sellout crowd.

But the former Vols planned to see it.

On the other side of the big green wall, which serves as a batter's eye, are the words: SITE OF SULPHUR DELL, BASEBALL'S MOST HISTORIC BALL PARK 1870-1963. The big tin letters and numbers pay homage to the Vols and professional baseball played on the site.

Welcome home, Durnbaugh and Pardue, Taylor and Gilbert.

Reach Dave Ammenheuser at 615-259-8352 and on Twitter @NashSportsEd.

Story by

Nate Rau, nrau@tennessean.com

Nashville a next Major League city?

One of city's top pro sports executives thinks Nashville could sustain pro baseball, too.

With its booming population and growing list of prominent companies relocating here, Nashville could sustain a Major League Baseball team, according to one of the city's top professional sports executives.

The opening of First Tennessee Park, the city-funded home for the Triple A Nashville Sounds, offers another opportunity to take stock of Music City's potential to one day be home to a big-league team.

The National Football League's Tennessee Titans have been an unmitigated success, selling out every home game in franchise history. The Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League have steadied financial operations and upped home attendance — selling out 32 of 43 games at Bridgestone Arena this season.

And in the future, Nashville could handle a big-league baseball squad, too, said Predators CEO Jeff Cogen. A decade ago, Cogen worked as president of MLB's Texas Rangers. In Nashville, Cogen, along with COO Sean Henry, have revitalized the Predators. Cogen said the biggest question is how to pay for a ballpark that would cost around $600 million.

Nashville a next Major League city?

But if Nashville could figure out a way to pay the expensive bill, Cogen said the framework is in place to make big-league baseball work here, even with two professional teams already in place.

"The next thing you'd have to turn your attention to is could the market sustain it," Cogen said. "Are there enough seat-buying people, are there enough suite-buying people and are there enough corporate-buying people? My answer will surprise you, I think there are.

"The Titans obviously have answered that question yes. We're in the process of answering that question yes, and pretty soon that answer will be yes. Maybe next year. It's easier in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston, because to fill 40,000 seats you have to have a smaller percentage of the population. But I believe the market is robust enough, and corporate-laden and technologically savy that we have the right mix of corporate and individuals that could support Major League Baseball, if there were facilities."

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, an avid baseball fan, said he believed Nashville could be a big-league city in the future.

Dean was elected Nashville's mayor in 2007 just before the national recession hit and hampered his ability to pursue financing for a new Sounds stadium. When the local economy rebounded and Dean breezed to reelection, he was able in 2013 to negotiate a land deal and financing package that ended a decade of discussions about a new facility for the Sounds. But, Dean told The Tennessean that he foresees a day when Nashville adds an MLB franchise.

"Today we're celebrating a new home for minor league baseball in Nashville, and we expect that to be a big hit for years to come," Dean said. "But with the growth that's expected in Nashville and Middle Tennessee over the next 20 to 30 years, and with the success of our pro football and hockey teams since the late 1990s, I think there's a very strong chance that Music City will also be a Major League Baseball city someday."

Former owner pursued expansion franchise

If circumstances were a little different two decades ago, Nashville might already be home to a big-league baseball team.

When Phil Bredesen was mayor in the 1990s, he led the city's efforts to attract the Predators and Titans. But Bredesen, who was not an avid sports fan, wasn't initially seeking to bring pro sports to Music City.

His first priority was to upgrade the downtown arena so the city could host top-tier touring music acts who were skipping Nashville because Municipal Auditorium was too small. Once the plan to build what is now Bridgestone Arena was put in motion, the Bredesen administration sought an anchor tenant, but didn't care if it was a professional hockey or basketball team. The city's pursuit of those pro sports attracted then-Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams to contact the city about relocating his franchise here.

"You have a mayor who had no real interest in any sports," said Nashville attorney Jim Murphy, who worked for the Metro Legal Department and served as a legal adviser to the Bredesen administration in the '90s. "He had no bias between any of those opportunities. I would think if it had been a baseball team that was interested in coming, he would have probably looked at it just as hard."

Former Sounds owner Larry Schmittou had major league dreams, and actually worked to bring the MLB to town. Schmittou led the effort for Nashville to apply for an MLB expansion franchise, which ultimately went to the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins in the '90s.

Schmittou believes Nashville would have been a successful MLB city if it had been baseball and not football or hockey that arrived in Music City first. He said a consultant report at the time indicated Nashville could draw 2 million fans paying typical MLB ticket prices.

But Schmittou wondered if, by choosing football and hockey instead, Nashville had missed its chance at an MLB team long-term.

"You would have to put me in the category of thinking it could not support that," Schmittou said. "I base that on the fact that other cities of similar size, even larger than Nashville, have tried to have three or more teams. It almost always happens that one of them fail.

"Who would fail here? The hockey team? The baseball team? I certainly can't envision it being the NFL team… There's only so much advertising dollars, discretionary income dollars to go around, and it's even more expensive now than when I looked at it."

New park an opportunity for Nashville

There have been no public discussions about the MLB expanding and adding teams to new markets. If Nashville were to land a team in the near future, it would likely come in the form of an existing team relocating here. The Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays have had media reports questioning their long-term futures in their current markets.

Jason Bennett, who worked in sales and marketing for the Sounds and now is a partner at Nashville-based firm Alliance Sports Marketing, said the new stadium is an opportunity for fans and corporations to show they could support baseball on a higher level.

Bennett said the Nashville area's major corporations such as Bridgestone Americas, Nissan, Ryman Hospitality and others would interest teams looking to relocate, but the key is for corporate Nashville to show its support for baseball by getting behind the Sounds now.

"I think Nashville could, down the road, support a Major League Baseball franchise," Bennett said. "I think the important thing now is this transition where fans show support for the Sounds. And it's up to corporate groups in town to show big-league baseball that they can get behind and support a major-league quality team with a Triple A team at a new ballpark."

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau.

Columnist Dave Ammenheuser and baseball historian Skip Nipper have prepared a nine-inning (part) multimedia series publishing daily with videos, slide shows and more, leading up to the opening of First Tennessee Park on April 17.