History of professional baseball in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee, has hosted Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams since the late 19th century but has never been home to a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. The city's professional baseball history dates back to 1884 with the formation of the Nashville Americans, who were charter members of the original Southern League in 1885 and played their home games at Sulphur Spring Park, later renamed Athletic Park and Sulphur Dell. This ballpark was the home of Nashville's minor league teams through 1963. Of the numerous teams to play there, the best known was the Nashville Vols, who competed from 1901 to 1963, primarily in the Southern Association. Following the loss of the Vols and the subsequent demolition of Sulphur Dell, Music City was without a professional baseball team for 14 years until 1978 when the Nashville Sounds, then a Double-A team that moved up to Triple-A in 1985, began play at Herschel Greer Stadium. The Sounds left Greer in 2015 for First Tennessee Park, now known as First Horizon Park, a new facility built on the site of the historic Sulphur Dell, where they continue as the oldest active professional sports franchise in Nashville. Several Negro league teams were based in Nashville, playing at Sulphur Dell as well as Greenwood Park and Tom Wilson Park, from 1920 to 1951. Among these were the Nashville Elite Giants, who played 15 seasons in the city, including six seasons in leagues that were retroactively granted major league status by MLB in 2020. Despite efforts to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville, most prominently in the 1993 MLB expansion process, the city has been unsuccessful in its attempts to gain a major league team. An effort is being made to either land a future expansion team or lure an existing team to Nashville with the promise of a new major league facility. Minor League Baseball Early teams (1884–1897) Amateur teams first played baseball in Nashville, Tennessee, in the late 1860s. On October 6, 1884, local investors met to establish the city's first professional baseball team, the Nashville Americans. Following a failed bid to join the major league Union Association, the Americans instead became charter members of the original Southern League in which they competed in 1885 and 1886. They played their home games at Sulphur Spring Park, later renamed Athletic Park and Sulphur Dell. Nashville's Southern League entry in 1887 was called the Nashville Blues. After losing nearly US$18,000, the team's directors chose to cut their losses and withdraw from the circuit some two months before the season's end. Nashville did not field another professional baseball club for the next five years until the Nashville Tigers joined the Southern League in 1893. The Tigers faced similar financial difficulties, resulting in the franchise being surrendered to the league, which continued to operate it for the remainder of their first season. Their 1894 campaign came to an abrupt midseason end on the heels of league-wide financial instability. The Nashville Seraphs replaced the Tigers in 1895. At the