Ronald W. Weathersby

After years of stalled talks regarding construction of a new baseball park groundbreaking ceremonies for a new $38 million 10,000-seat baseball stadium in North Nashville took place last Monday. The venue, scheduled to open in April 2015 will replace 35-year-old Greer Stadium in South Nashville as the home of the Nashville Sounds. Mayor Karl Dean and the Sounds hosted the ceremonies followed by a free Family Fun Festival that included baseball-themed activities for kids.

The groundbreaking ceremony included Pat O’Conner, President and CEO of Minor League Baseball; Doug Melvin, General Manager of the Milwaukee Brewers; and a special appearance by Major League Baseball player Albert Pujols.

Mayor Dean said the city’s investment returns baseball to its historic home in Sulphur Dell and will spur further redevelopment of the Jefferson Street area.

“With this ballpark and the planned surrounding developments, the energy and excitement of our downtown will be connected to some of our most vibrant urban neighborhoods,” Mayor Dean said. “Not only was this the most feasible option, but as a baseball fan who also loves history, I really felt that no site was more special than here at Sulphur Dell, the historic home of baseball in Nashville. Solidifying the decision for me was the economic benefit I knew this project would create for the north side of downtown.” said Dean.

The ballpark is part of a planned $80 million development of the long underused parcel. Frank Ward, co-owner of the Nashville Sounds said the team is excited about the venture.

“When my partners and I purchased the Sounds five years ago, we had a vision of bringing the country’s best minor league baseball park to this city, and we are excited to formally begin that process with today’s groundbreaking,” said Frank Ward, co-owner of the Nashville Sounds. “This state-of-the-art ballpark will be something that Nashville can be proud of — a safe, family-friendly destination for fans of all ages.”

There are also reports that a multi-million dollar agreement to name the stadium is imminent. The deal could be worth between $500,000 to $750,000 annually.

“We have had a number of inquiries, and we are having some very serious conversations with various companies,” John Triggs, an adviser to the Sounds’ owners told the Tennessean. “We are quite pleased by the interest already in the new stadium and the naming rights.”
The Sulphur Dell site has historic roots as one of the original baseball parks in the city. Baseball’s roots in Nashville go back to 1860 when Union soldiers introduced the game to the local community. Home field was a place known as the Sulphur Springs Bottom (a sulphur spring ran near the site),, a half-mile north of today’s state capitol. The original grandstand was built in 1885 and was torn down in 1926. It was rebuilt as a concrete-and-steel structure and during its 100-year existence, several professional baseball teams played there including the Americans, Seraphs, Tigers, Vols, and Negro League Elite Giants. On April 16, 1969 demolition began on the old Sulphur Dell Ball Park which at the time was the oldest ballpark in the U.S.

The famous sportswriter Grantland Rice renamed the park to Sulphur Dell.

The old Sulpher Dell ballpark

Negro League baseball also found a home at Sulphur Dell. One of the first times a major all-black team played at there was in 1913 Bill Traughber recounts in his book Nashville Sports History: Stories From the Stands. That spring, the Chicago American Giants played against squads from the Nashville Capitol League, a circuit of local industrial teams. According to Traughber, the games between the Chicago aggregation and the Nashville units at Sulphur Dell “drew the largest attendance at that time for a Negro sporting event.”
African-American teams, from the professional Elite Giants down to amateur groups, gradually decreased their use of Sulphur Dell after local Nashville businessman, Tom Wilson constructed his own stadium, Tom Wilson Park, in 1929.

However in August 1932, Sulphur Dell became the center of the African-American baseball scene in the South. Representatives from the Negro Southern League, as well as officials from the Worth Baseball Co. gathered at the ballpark for the best-of-seven league championship series between the American Giants, the Chicago-based team regarded as the best in black baseball, and Wilson’s upstart Nashville Elite Giants, who were looking to upset the traditional power. At stake were a large title pennant, 28 baseballs made of 14-karat gold, and one big silver cup. The national African-American press played up the drama. “There will be fireworks aplenty on the firing line when play is resumed here Sunday in the Southern League Championship Series,” wrote Luther Carmichael, the Atlanta Daily World’s Nashville correspondent. “Folks who have been yearning for thrilling entertainment have only to come down to dear old Sulphur Dell during this brief series and they certainly will not be disappointed.” The Chicago squad eventually won the series. But for the African-American community in Nashville, the event was nonetheless historic. The series placed Sulphur Dell in the center of the city’s black sporting scene.

It wasn’t just big-time black ball teams that took to the Dell’s diamond. In October 1934, the Capital City League — headed by a local sports impresario named Will Lathan — held a city championship tournament at Sulphur Dell. “The tournament has the endorsement of all the leading citizens of Nashville and its purpose is to encourage amateur baseball,” stated a report by the Associated Negro Press.
In September 1946, the Negro Southern League — which was based in Nashville at the time — held its first all-star game at Sulphur Dell, an event that had the local baseball community hopping with excitement. “Announcement that the game would be played in Nashville has aroused unusual interest among the sports lovers of these parts,” the Pittsburgh Courier stated. “Nashville … is expected to pack Sulphur Dell to capacity.”

Other African-American teams, such as the Atlanta Black Crackers and the Birmingham Black Barons also took the field at the Dell. Even Wilson’s Elite Giants who moved to Baltimore returned to the Dell for spring training as well as exhibition and league contests. In addition, other big-time Negro League teams stopped at Sulphur Dell during tours of the South. In 1944, the Cincinnati Clowns swept a doubleheader from the Memphis Red Sox, while the Indianapolis Clowns and Philadelphia Stars clashed there in 1952 to launch that year’s Negro American League slate. The Dell continued to host prominent black barnstorming teams and all-star exhibitions into the 1950s, events that sometimes included Junior Gilliam, a Nashville native, former Negro Leaguer and then-Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger.
However, by the early 1950s, as the Negro Leagues were quickly sliding toward their end — doomed, ironically, by the integration of major league teams, the same fate was threatening the Nashville Vols, who were the primary tenant at The Dell. The team and Southern Association stubbornly clung to segregation right up to its death in 1961. The integration of black players into organized baseball — and the boycott of Southern Association contests by black fans — largely determined the Dell’s eventual fate. After a century of segregation, the storied stadium at Sulphur Dell gave way to the very forces that also killed the Negro Leagues. The Dell was closed in 1963.

During its century of life baseball greats who played at Sulphur Dell included: Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Roy Capanella, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson.

Featured Image Caption:  Joining in on the groundbreaking for the new baseball park for the Nashville Sounds are l-r, Jerry Maynard, Metro Council, At-Large; Erica Gilmore, Metro Council District 19; State Sen. Thelma Harper; Mayor Karl Dean; Frank Ward, Co-Owner Nashville Sounds; Doug Melvin, Milwaukee Brewers General Manager; and Kim Adkins, Vice Chair of the Metro Sports Authority