Separated by an approximately 200-mile (320 km) stretch of Interstate 40, competition between professional baseball teams from Memphis and Nashville began in 1885 in the original Southern League.

[3] The Nashville Sounds entered the cross-state rivalry in 1978 when they and the Memphis Chicks joined the Double-A Southern League as expansion teams playing in its Western Division.

[4] Sounds president Larry Schmittou and Chicks general manager Art Clarkson looked for every opportunity to provoke controversy between the clubs and their fans.

Memphis fans responded by throwing cups of ice and beer cans at Sounds players who had to be restrained from climbing over the dugout into the stands.

[2] Briefly, from 1993 to 1994, the Chicks competed against the Nashville Xpress, a displaced Southern League team who shared a ballpark with the Sounds.

[1][2] The Nashville Sounds joined the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL) in 1998 following the disbandment of the American Association after the 1997 campaign.

[19][20] In the top of the fourth inning, Nashville's Mark Smith hit a single that scored Jeff Patzke and Chad Hermansen to give the Sounds a 2–0 lead.

Smith drove in Patzke and Hermansen again in the sixth with a double and later came home on a Freddy García base hit, making the score 5–0.

[20] Sounds starting pitcher Jimmy Anderson earned the win, Redbirds starter Clint Weibl took the loss, and Jeff McCurry was credited with a save.

[21] An 18–1 Redbirds rout over the Sounds on July 30, 2000, at Nashville's Herschel Greer Stadium is the largest margin of victory between the teams.

[26] Memphis took a 2–0 lead when Kerry Robinson drove in Keith McDonald and Stubby Clapp on a two-run single in the third inning.

[21] From August 13 to September 1, 2005, the Redbirds won six consecutive meetings against the Sounds, their longest head-to-head winning streak.

[30] The trio, who struck out 11 batters, was aided offensively by a Nelson Cruz RBI single in the first inning and a Brent Abernathy solo home run in the sixth.

[21] In 2009, the American Northern Division title race came down to the last week of competition, with the Redbirds, Sounds, and Iowa Cubs vying for first place.

Whichever of the two teams won the most games played between them was declared the winner and received a trophy cup to keep until the next season.

[35] The most lopsided Sounds win occurred on June 15 of that season, when they defeated the Redbirds, 16–3, at the new First Tennessee Park in Nashville.

[42] Down 3–2 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two runners on base, Wilfredo Tovar singled on a ground ball to Dustin Fowler in center field scoring Edmundo Sosa to tie the game.

[45] Each Memphis batter had at least one hit; Randy Arozarena led his team with three, and Andrew Knizner drove in four runs.

[51] However, Opening Day was pushed back a month to temporarily eliminate commercial air travel and give players the opportunity to be vaccinated before the season began.

[53] The teams played their first head-to-head game in the new league on May 11 at Nashville's renamed First Horizon Park in which the visiting Redbirds defeated the Sounds, 18–6.

[55] In 2022, the Triple-A East became known as the International League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization,[56] and both teams were realigned into its Western Division.

[61] On April 19, 2024, the Sounds matched a 2016 record for their most lopsided win when they defeated the Redbirds 15–2 in a six-inning rain-shortend game at AutoZone Park.

[62] Over 23 years of membership in the Pacific Coast League, the Redbirds won more games than the Sounds in both the regular-season and postseason and captured more titles.

[63][64][65][66] Nashville, however, has a better regular-season and postseason record after four years in the Triple-A East / International League in addition to having won more titles.