Nashville Sounds

[13][14] The Metro Parks Board agreed to lease to Schmittou the site of Nashville's former softball fields on the grounds of Fort Negley, a Civil War fortification approximately two miles (3.2 km) south of downtown, on which to build.

[29][30] The Sounds had more success at the turnstiles than on the field as they led all of Minor League Baseball in attendance by drawing 380,000 fans to Greer Stadium in their debut season.

[41] Schmittou had been encouraged by the New York Yankees organization to establish the Sounds as a Triple-A team, but he refused to go back on his previous agreement to partner with the Reds at Double-A.

[41] In response to a decline in attendance and a decrease in local media coverage, Sounds president Larry Schmittou sought to boost interest in the team through an elevation to the Triple-A classification.

[50] His desire to land a Triple-A team was part of a larger plan to put Nashville in a position to contend for a Major League Baseball franchise in the future.

[57] The Sounds experienced their most successful season with the Reds at Triple-A and as members of the American Association that year when they compiled an 86–61 record under manager Pete Mackanin.

[41] At the recommendation of the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and with few options available,[63] the Sounds signed a new player development contract with the Chicago White Sox, who wanted to move their Triple-A farm club closer than its previous location in Vancouver.

Unable to convince the city to pay for a new ballpark, and deciding against moving the team elsewhere in the Nashville area, Schmittou made significant improvements to Greer.

The 1993 team, led by manager Rick Renick, clinched the Eastern Division title but lost the championship series to the Iowa Cubs.

[76] The Sounds entered the Pacific Coast League as the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who sought to escape the chilly climate and lengthy travel associated with their previous affiliate in Calgary.

One of their three winning seasons occurred in 2003 when Trent Jewett managed the Sounds to clinch the American Conference Eastern Division title, giving them their first postseason berth in the PCL and first playoff appearance since 1994.

[48] Seeking to place their Triple-A club at a newer, more desirable stadium and to escape the high travel costs associated with playing in the PCL, Pittsburgh ended their affiliation with the Sounds after the 2004 campaign.

[97] The Sounds had planned to leave Greer Stadium in the mid 2000s for a new ballpark to be called First Tennessee Field,[98] but the project was abandoned when a financing agreement could not be reached.

[99][100] After the 2008 season and failing to secure a new facility, Al Gordon's Amerisports Companies sold the team to MFP Baseball, a New York-based group of investors consisting of Masahiro Honzawa, Steve Posner, and Frank Ward.

[41]Nashville affiliated with the Oakland Athletics in 2015 due in part to the organization's commitment to fielding competitive teams at the Triple-A level, an area in which co-owner Frank Ward felt Milwaukee lacked.

[111] In the facility's inaugural game on April 17, the Sounds defeated the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 3–2 in 10 innings, with a walk-off RBI double in front of an announced paid attendance of 10,459 people.

[117] Also in 2019, just four years after their previous rebranding, the team debuted new colors and logos which pull together elements from their original visual identity and the musical imagery present throughout their franchise history.

[133] Under manager Rick Sweet, who previously led the team in the last season of their former affiliation with Milwaukee and since their reaffiliation,[134] the 2022 Sounds won the Western Division title with a league-best 91–58 record.

The ballpark, which was demolished in 2019,[161] was located on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification approximately two miles (3.2 km) south of downtown Nashville.

[164] The largest attendance, which also set the Southern League record,[43] occurred on August 18, 1982, when 22,315 people saw the Sounds take on the Columbus Astros,[165] many of them standing in roped-off areas in the outfield.

[172] Examples include the use of directional signage displaying information on Nashville's former teams and players and the grandstand's light stanchions reminiscent of those found at Sulphur Dell.

In the middle of the fifth inning, people in oversized foam caricature costumes depicting country musicians Johnny Cash, George Jones, Reba McEntire, and Dolly Parton race around the warning track from center-field, through the visiting bullpen, and to the home plate side of the first base dugout.

An alternate solid red jersey with black and gray trim around the sleeve openings and a music note logo on the left chest was also worn.

Another alternate, made of black material, had red and white trim at the sleeve openings and a similar music note logo on the left chest.

[187] Gray road uniforms were identical with only a few exceptions: they had "Nashville" on the chest, pants lacked any piping, and the cap bore an "S" guitar pick logo.

[188] Since the 2019 season, home jerseys have been white with "NASH" boldly arched across the chest in navy blue with the player's number in red under the name on the left side.

"Sounds" is written across the chest in red-on-blue music note-like script, with the player's number below on the left in red block characters with blue borders.

These white v-neck pullovers have "Hit City" across the chest in navy, with red silhouettes of the Nashville skyline above and the lower half of the guitar scoreboard below.

The surplus cougar outfit was sent to Nashville, and, after building a fan following during his first season, team management decided to make Ozzie the permanent mascot.

Bruce Berenyi (1978), Geoff Combe (1979), Andy McGaffigan (1980), Jamie Werly (1981), and Stefan Wever (1982) were selected for the Southern League Most Outstanding Pitcher Award.

A black and white photograph of seventeen men sitting in three rows on the ground. Most are wearing dark coats with high white socks, but two are wearing dark baseball uniforms with a white "N" on the chests; some are wearing fielding gloves, and one is petting a dog.
The 1901 Nashville Baseball Club of the Southern Association
A man smiling wearing a blue satin jacket with "Sounds" across the front in white and red and a blue cap bearing a white "N"
Larry Schmittou led a group of investors that purchased a Southern League expansion franchise and financed the construction of its ballpark.
A black and white photograph of a baseball game in progress with fans looking on and few empty seats in sight
A game during the 1978 season in which Nashville led all of Minor League Baseball in attendance when 380,000 people attended games at Greer Stadium
A black and white photograph of baseball players in uniforms and caps posed in three rows standing, sitting, and kneeing on a baseball field
In 1980, the Sounds set a franchise-best 97–46 record and set the Southern League attendance record with 575,676 fans visiting Greer.
A man wearing a white baseball uniform with "Sounds" on the chest in blue and red and a blue cap with a white "N" on the center poses holding a baseball bat with both hands on a green field.
Skeeter Barnes , a Sound in 1979 and from 1988 to 1990, is the team career leader in games played (514), at bats (1,848), and hits (517).
A view of the giant blue guitar-shaped scoreboard beyond the left-center field wall. Advertisements for local businesses adorn the guitar and the green outfield wall below.
Greer Stadium 's guitar scoreboard was installed prior to the 1993 season.
A man wearing a white baseball uniform with a navy blue "L" on the chest, a navy blue cap with a white "L" on the center, and a black glove on his left hand in the midst of pitching a ball
John Wasdin pitched a perfect game for the Sounds on April 7, 2003.
A view from the right-field line of the seating bowl at Greer. Blue seats stretch from the right-field wall, behind home plate, and beyond the third base dugout.
After 37 seasons, the Sounds played their final game at Herschel Greer Stadium on August 27, 2014.
A view of the green baseball field from the third base side seats showing men in white baseball uniforms playing their positions as the sun has just set behind first base
The Sounds played their first game at First Horizon Park , then known as First Tennessee Park, on April 17, 2015.
A man in a navy blue baseball jersey, gray pants, and a navy cap with hands held together in his black glove.
Tim Dillard set multiple career pitching records from 2007 to 2014 and in 2019.
Men in white baseball uniforms celebrating on a green baseball field at night
The Sounds celebrating their first win in the International League on April 5, 2022, at First Horizon Park
A view from the right-field line of the seating bowl at Greer. Blue seats stretch from the right-field wall, behind home plate, and beyond the third base dugout.
Herschel Greer Stadium
A view of a green baseball field from the third base side seats showing men in white baseball uniforms playing their positions with the late afternoon sun above the horizon
First Horizon Park
An illustration showing baseball uniforms
Current Nashville Sounds uniforms
A person wearing a red anthropomorphized rooster costume dressed in a white baseball jersey with "NASH" across the chest in navy blue and a red "0" below it dances on a baseball dugout.
Booster, the team mascot
A man wearing a black baseball cap and a red jersey with "Sounds" written across the chest in white script and gray baseball pants shown in the midst of his windup
Jimmy Nelson won the PCL Pitcher of the Year Award in 2014.
A man in a white baseball uniform with "NASH" written in navy letters across the chest, a red "16" below, and a navy cap with a red and white "N" on the front walking to the dugout
Rick Sweet , the Sounds' manager in 2014 and since 2021, was the recipient of the 2022 International League Manager of the Year Award . [ 137 ]