Nashville Centennials

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

Financial problems brought on by poor weather, low attendance, and a lack of local monetary support necessitated the team's transfer to Henderson, Kentucky, after June 3. At the time of their departure, Nashville was in second place with an 18–14 record, one game out of first. The league ultimately disbanded on July 20. Combined, the Nashville/Henderson team finished in second place at 39–31, one-and-a-half games out of first.

Professional baseball was first played in Nashville, Tennessee, by the Nashville Americans, who were charter members of the original Southern League from 1885 to 1886 and played their home games at Sulphur Spring Park, later renamed Athletic Park and Sulphur Dell. This ballpark was to be the home of Nashville's minor league teams through 1963. In 1887, Nashville's Southern League team was called the Nashville Blues. The Nashville Tigers competed in the same league from 1893 to 1894. The Nashville Seraphs won the city's first professional championship in the Southern League in 1895. Nashville planned to field another team in the Southern League's 1896 season, but refused to participate when one club rejected putting up its US$500 guarantee to finish the season, instead suggesting that each of the other clubs pay a portion of its deposit in addition to their own $500. The Southern League hoped Nashville would rejoin for 1897, a desire which was not shared by local baseball supporters, while it was also suggested that Nashville could gain admittance to the Western League, a predecessor to the American League.

Meanwhile, George Stallings and W. L. "Billy" Work were drawing up plans for the Central League, which was conceptualized in spring 1895 when Southern baseball figures were deciding how to organize for that season. Stallings and Work had been teammates on the 1894 Nashville Tigers; Stallings was player-manager of that team and of the Seraphs. Whereas the Southern League was spread out across the South resulting in costly travel expenses, the Central League would be a much more compact circuit. The pair thought that either this arrangement or a state league consisting of all or mostly teams in Tennessee would be the best fit for a Nashville club.

With teams from several states eagerly seeking to join the proposed Central League, representatives met to organize in Evansville on January 20, 1897. While the exact league lineup was not finalized at the meeting, it was resolved that the circuit was to consist of six teams who would pay a $500 deposit to guarantee they would play the entire season, and player salaries were capped at $900 per team. Officials met again on February 7 in Evansville to solidify the league's membership, and franchises were granted to clubs in Cairo, Illinois; Evansville, Terre Haute, and Washington, Indiana; Paducah, Kentucky; and Nashville.

Nashville's team has come to be known as the Centennials. Though there are no contemporary references to this moniker, local newspapers commonly called the team the "Centennial lads" and the "Centennial City lads." The name was in reference to the celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the Tennessee's admission to the union in 1796. The centerpiece of which was the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition held in Centennial Park from May 1 to October 30, 1897.

By February 10, Billy Work, who was to manage the Nashville club, had already begun acquiring players. Two pitchers signed to start the season had previous major league experience. Charlie Petty, a Nashville native, played for the Cincinnati Red Stockings (1889), New York Giants (1893), Washington Senators (1894), and Cleveland Spiders (1894). Theodore Conover had also pitched one game for the 1889 Red Stockings. Two other players would have been familiar faces to Nashville baseball fans at the time: shortstop Patrick Lynch of the Nashville Seraphs and outfielder George Cleve also of the Seraphs and the 1894 Tigers.

Manager Work originally planned to have his players report to Nashville around March 27 so as to have plenty of time to prepare for the April 28 season opener. He had players signed but, unfortunately, nowhere to practice. Athletic Park, where the team was to play, was located in a low-lying area in close proximity to the Cumberland River and prone to regular flooding in the spring. Heavy March rains left the ballpark flooded and unable to accommodate any baseball activities. Having to push back their report date, Work wrote to his players asking them to practice at home until Athletic Park was ready.