Recent from talks
Herschel Greer Stadium
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Herschel Greer Stadium
Herschel Greer Stadium was a Minor League Baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Located on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, it was approximately two mi (3.2 km) south of the city's downtown district. The facility closed at the end of the 2014 baseball season and remained deserted for over four years until its demolition in 2019. Following an archaeological survey, the land is expected to be reincorporated into Fort Negley Park.
Greer was opened in 1978 for the Nashville Sounds, an expansion franchise of the Double-A Southern League who moved to the Triple-A American Association in 1985 and to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1998. The stadium played host to the team until 2014. The subject of numerous upgrades and repairs to maintain its functionality, Greer became one of the oldest stadiums used by a Triple-A team and had fallen well below professional baseball's standards for a stadium at that class level by the end of its use. For over a decade, the Sounds attempted to secure agreements with the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County for a new ballpark to replace Greer, eventually resulting in the construction of First Tennessee Park, which became the Sounds' new home in 2015.
Amidst the Sounds' 37-season run, Greer simultaneously hosted two professional baseball clubs in 1993 and 1994, acting as a temporary home to a displaced Southern League franchise known during that period as the Nashville Xpress. The stadium also saw occasional use as a venue for college baseball, high school football, and charity softball events. It was the site of three minor league all-star games, eight no-hitters, including one perfect game, and a 24-inning game which tied the record for the longest game in Pacific Coast League history. The stadium was best recognized by its distinctive guitar-shaped scoreboard.
Larry Schmittou, the leader of an effort to bring professional baseball back to Nashville in the late 1970s, knew he would need to build a new ballpark as the city's previous ballpark, Sulphur Dell, had been demolished in 1969. He learned from a member of the Metro Board of Parks and Recreation that neither the Parks Board nor the city of Nashville would be willing to pay for such a park. So, Schmittou, along with help from country musician Conway Twitty, put together a group of investors including other country artists Cal Smith and Jerry Reed, as well as other Nashvillians, to finance a stadium and a minor league team. The Metro Parks Board agreed to lease to Schmittou a plot of land at the foot of St. Cloud Hill on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, approximately two mi (3.2 km) south of downtown, for a period of 20 years as long as he built a stadium with a minimum capacity of 6,500 at a cost of at least US$400,000 within 10 years. The city would also relocate the city-owned softball complex that occupied the site. Schmittou would be responsible for building the stadium, paying the property taxes, and paying the city seven percent of the team's total revenue in the second ten years.
Stoll-Reed Architects advised Schmittou that construction of a suitable stadium would cost between $300,000 and $500,000, but bids for the project ranged from $980,000 to $1.2 million. Schmittou looked to local suppliers to donate construction materials, took out a $30,000 loan from a bank, sold season tickets in advance of having a team, and even mortgaged his own home to help pay for the facility. The actual cost totaled $1.5 million. The stadium was posthumously named for Herschel Lynn Greer, a prominent Nashville businessman and the first president of Vols, Inc., an attempt to keep Nashville's previous minor league baseball team, the Nashville Vols, alive as a fan-owned enterprise, and whose family donated $25,000 for stadium construction.
The home opener for Greer's first tenants, the Southern League's Nashville Sounds, the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, was scheduled for April 25, 1978. Construction was underway, but Schmittou knew the ballpark would not be ready by that date. The team requested to open the season with road games and had to swap a series with the Chattanooga Lookouts in order to have more time to complete the stadium. Even with this extra time, the ballpark was still behind schedule. Much of the sod that been laid that winter died. By the time the replacement grass had arrived, the crew hired to lay the sod had left. General Manager Farrell Owens organized a volunteer crew to lay the sod by calling a local radio station to announce the team was having a "sod party". A group of approximately 50 people came out to lay and roll the sod the day before the scheduled opening game.
The scheduled April 25 Greer home opener was rained out and pushed back to the evening of April 26. After playing their first ten games away from home, and with tractors and grading machines still preparing the field on game day, the Sounds played their first home game on April 26, 1978. The 12–4 victory against the Savannah Braves was witnessed by a sellout crowd of 8,156 spectators. Southern League president Billy Hitchcock was on hand to witness the event, and Conway Twitty threw out the first pitch. On the field, Sounds catcher Joe Griffin led the 16-hit Nashville offense with 4 hits and 5 runs batted in (RBI) while starting pitcher Bruce Berenyi got the win and closer Doug Corbett earned a save.
Though the stadium was opened on time, the late sod was not the only issue on Opening Day. The electricity was turned on only five minutes before the gates opened. Only two women's restrooms and one men's restroom were functioning, though a few portable toilets were also available. The stadium's seats, which had previously been used in Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, arrived just in time for installation. Construction of the backstop was still being completed on Opening Day. Players for both the Sounds and the visiting Braves had concerns about the safety of playing on the quickly installed infield, initially refusing to play on the surface. Left fielders complained about the extra-steep slope in left field that prevented them from seeing home plate. The outfield grass was taken up and the soil regraded to alleviate this problem while the Sounds were away on an eight-day road trip.
Hub AI
Herschel Greer Stadium AI simulator
(@Herschel Greer Stadium_simulator)
Herschel Greer Stadium
Herschel Greer Stadium was a Minor League Baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Located on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, it was approximately two mi (3.2 km) south of the city's downtown district. The facility closed at the end of the 2014 baseball season and remained deserted for over four years until its demolition in 2019. Following an archaeological survey, the land is expected to be reincorporated into Fort Negley Park.
Greer was opened in 1978 for the Nashville Sounds, an expansion franchise of the Double-A Southern League who moved to the Triple-A American Association in 1985 and to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1998. The stadium played host to the team until 2014. The subject of numerous upgrades and repairs to maintain its functionality, Greer became one of the oldest stadiums used by a Triple-A team and had fallen well below professional baseball's standards for a stadium at that class level by the end of its use. For over a decade, the Sounds attempted to secure agreements with the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County for a new ballpark to replace Greer, eventually resulting in the construction of First Tennessee Park, which became the Sounds' new home in 2015.
Amidst the Sounds' 37-season run, Greer simultaneously hosted two professional baseball clubs in 1993 and 1994, acting as a temporary home to a displaced Southern League franchise known during that period as the Nashville Xpress. The stadium also saw occasional use as a venue for college baseball, high school football, and charity softball events. It was the site of three minor league all-star games, eight no-hitters, including one perfect game, and a 24-inning game which tied the record for the longest game in Pacific Coast League history. The stadium was best recognized by its distinctive guitar-shaped scoreboard.
Larry Schmittou, the leader of an effort to bring professional baseball back to Nashville in the late 1970s, knew he would need to build a new ballpark as the city's previous ballpark, Sulphur Dell, had been demolished in 1969. He learned from a member of the Metro Board of Parks and Recreation that neither the Parks Board nor the city of Nashville would be willing to pay for such a park. So, Schmittou, along with help from country musician Conway Twitty, put together a group of investors including other country artists Cal Smith and Jerry Reed, as well as other Nashvillians, to finance a stadium and a minor league team. The Metro Parks Board agreed to lease to Schmittou a plot of land at the foot of St. Cloud Hill on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, approximately two mi (3.2 km) south of downtown, for a period of 20 years as long as he built a stadium with a minimum capacity of 6,500 at a cost of at least US$400,000 within 10 years. The city would also relocate the city-owned softball complex that occupied the site. Schmittou would be responsible for building the stadium, paying the property taxes, and paying the city seven percent of the team's total revenue in the second ten years.
Stoll-Reed Architects advised Schmittou that construction of a suitable stadium would cost between $300,000 and $500,000, but bids for the project ranged from $980,000 to $1.2 million. Schmittou looked to local suppliers to donate construction materials, took out a $30,000 loan from a bank, sold season tickets in advance of having a team, and even mortgaged his own home to help pay for the facility. The actual cost totaled $1.5 million. The stadium was posthumously named for Herschel Lynn Greer, a prominent Nashville businessman and the first president of Vols, Inc., an attempt to keep Nashville's previous minor league baseball team, the Nashville Vols, alive as a fan-owned enterprise, and whose family donated $25,000 for stadium construction.
The home opener for Greer's first tenants, the Southern League's Nashville Sounds, the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, was scheduled for April 25, 1978. Construction was underway, but Schmittou knew the ballpark would not be ready by that date. The team requested to open the season with road games and had to swap a series with the Chattanooga Lookouts in order to have more time to complete the stadium. Even with this extra time, the ballpark was still behind schedule. Much of the sod that been laid that winter died. By the time the replacement grass had arrived, the crew hired to lay the sod had left. General Manager Farrell Owens organized a volunteer crew to lay the sod by calling a local radio station to announce the team was having a "sod party". A group of approximately 50 people came out to lay and roll the sod the day before the scheduled opening game.
The scheduled April 25 Greer home opener was rained out and pushed back to the evening of April 26. After playing their first ten games away from home, and with tractors and grading machines still preparing the field on game day, the Sounds played their first home game on April 26, 1978. The 12–4 victory against the Savannah Braves was witnessed by a sellout crowd of 8,156 spectators. Southern League president Billy Hitchcock was on hand to witness the event, and Conway Twitty threw out the first pitch. On the field, Sounds catcher Joe Griffin led the 16-hit Nashville offense with 4 hits and 5 runs batted in (RBI) while starting pitcher Bruce Berenyi got the win and closer Doug Corbett earned a save.
Though the stadium was opened on time, the late sod was not the only issue on Opening Day. The electricity was turned on only five minutes before the gates opened. Only two women's restrooms and one men's restroom were functioning, though a few portable toilets were also available. The stadium's seats, which had previously been used in Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, arrived just in time for installation. Construction of the backstop was still being completed on Opening Day. Players for both the Sounds and the visiting Braves had concerns about the safety of playing on the quickly installed infield, initially refusing to play on the surface. Left fielders complained about the extra-steep slope in left field that prevented them from seeing home plate. The outfield grass was taken up and the soil regraded to alleviate this problem while the Sounds were away on an eight-day road trip.
Recent media