May 9, 1867  At a called meeting of the Nashville Baseball Club, a resolution of tribute is passed to James Maguire, a worthy and esteemed member of the club who had just died suddenly. Members voted to wear the usual badge of mourning at all matches in which their club is a party to during the current season. The resolution is signed by James Boner, chairman, William Moore and James Doherty, committeemen, and M. J. McKee, secretary


September 24, 1867  The Phoenix nine is victorious over the Nashville base ball club 25-20 at the Phoenix team's home grounds in Edgefield


March 24, 1885  An extra force of workmen is put to work on the grounds of Athletic Park, grading the field and laying off the diamond before Nashville's Southern League season begins


March 30, 1885  In the first game scheduled between Indianapolis and the Nashville Americans, the Indianapolis club wins 8-4


March 31, 1885  Indianapolis outscores the Nashville 12-4 in the second game between to the two teams


April 1, 1885  Before 1,500 spectators, the Nashville Americans tops the Clevelands by a score of 15-7. The game begins at 3 PM. James Hillery is the umpire.


April 2, 1885  Nashville beats Cleveland 3-2 in a second exhibition game at Sulphur Spring park. The game lasts two hours and ten minutes


May 4, 1885  After a long road trip to open the inaugural Southern League season, Nashville loses its first home game to Columbus 3-2


August 15, 1885  Louis Henke, first baseman of the Atlanta baseball team, dies from injuries received in the game with the Nashville club the day before. The game scheduled for today is postponed


March 18, 1886  Nashville shuts out Memphis 8-0


March 23, 1886  Nashville defeats Pittsburg 13-6. Infielder Charles Marr is 4-4 at the plate and participates in two double plays


March 26, 1887  George Washington Bradley,  manager of the Nashville entry in the Southern League, pitches his team to an 11-10 win against the visiting Shamrocks of Cincinnati as a prelude to opening day against Memphis


January 14, 1895  Southern League president J. B. Nicklin presides over an expansion meeting in Parlor 7 of the Read House in Chattanooga. Franchises are awarded to W. H. Stallings for Nashville and Henry Powers (who also owns the New Orleans club) for Chattanooga


July 27, 1895  Manager Doyle of the New York Baseball Club receives a signed contract from Butler, an outfielder of Nashville of the Southern League after New York paid $1,000 to gain his release. Butler, who will play left field, had a batting average of .371 during the season in Nashville and led the team with 34 stolen bases. He will join New York in Washington


August 18, 1895  Pittsburg signs left-handed pitcher Samuel Moran of the Nashville club. He will join his new team in New York immediately. Moran pitched to a 22-12 record, striking out 113 Southern League batters during the season


February 12, 1897  Representatives from Nashville, Terre Haute, Washington, Evansville, Paducah, and Cairo meet in Evansville to finalize plans for the Central League. W. L. Work is the Nashville representative. Uniforms are selected as follows: Evansville, cadet blue, white trimmings; Terre Haute, gray and blue; Paducah, old gold and maroon; Washington, brown and red; Cairo, gray and black; and Nashville, blue and maroon. Nashville will host Evansville on opening day April 28th to open the season


October 20, 1900  The Southern Association of Baseball Clubs is organized in Birmingham, AL. Franchises are granted to 6 cities: Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Shreveport, New Orleans, and Birmingham. Applications are also received from Atlanta, Montgomery, Little Rock, and Mobile


February 28, 1901  Meeting in Memphis, the Southern Association franchise originally awarded to Atlanta is transferred to Selma. The league's schedule is also finalized


May 6, 1901  After opening the season with a 3-game sweep in Chattanooga, winning 15-14, 5-4, and 19-8, the Nashville club opens its home season with Chattanooga


August 23, 1902  Nashville loses a doubleheader to Birmingham's Irwin Wilhelm who tosses both games. Nashville is able to collect only one hit in each game against Wilhelm, losing 0-5 and 1-5


September 8, 1902  An agreement is signed in Memphis, TN that the Southern league in 1903 will include teams from New Orleans, Mobile, Birmingham, Montgomery, Savannah, Memphis, Atlanta, and Nashville, with Little Rock, Shreveport, and Chattanooga eliminated. Although it is announced that Ed Abbaticchio will become Nashville's manager as Newt Fisher goes to Birmingham, Fisher remains as manager with the Vols well into the 1905 season


November 20, 1902  The Cleveland club of the American League purchases pitcher Hugh Hill from Nashville for $500. Hill was 6-5 in 1901 and 22-7 in 1902


June 9, 1904  Clyde 'Red' Russell and Julius 'Doc' Wiseman are taken ill after dinner at the Alcoa Hotel. Ice cream was served after the meal and attending physicians attribute the sickness to some preservative used in the milk or to ptomaine poisoning. Southern League umpire W. C. Lack was one of twenty-two guests who also became ill


July 19, 1904  Dan Lowney, Nashville shortstop, is arrested and fined for throwing a bat at spectators in the grandstand in Memphis


March 30, 1905  The Nashville Baseball Club faced the New York Giants in an exhibition doubleheader in Nashville with 2,500 fans in attendance. Dummy Taylor and Christy Mathewson lead to Giants to 13-2 and 4-0 wins


April 4, 1905  The Chicago Americans defeat Nashville 6-2 in 1 hour and 40 minutes. The game was played at Peabody Field due to the wet conditions at Athletic Park


July 7, 1905  At a meeting of the company recently organized to purchase the Nashville baseball franchise, Bradley Walker is elected president, W. W. Taylor, vice-president, and W. H. Bordeiser is elected secretary and treasurer


September 1, 1905  Mike Finn resigns as manager of the Nashville baseball club


April 3, 1906  Nashville wins over Pittsburg 3-1 at Athletic Park

April 2, 1907  The New York Giants defeat Nashville 6-0 in a game completed in one hour and 38 minutes.  Christy Mathewson is the starting pitcher for the Giants


January 5, 1908  Bill Bernhardt is named as manager of the Nashville Baseball Club


February 16, 1908  Cleveland announces that it will have 2 farm clubs in 1908; Toledo, managed by Bill Armour, and Nashville, managed by Bill Bernhardt


April 5, 1908  The Nashville and Brooklyn baseball clubs are fined $100 each for illegally drafting Finlayson from Lynn, MA, and he is returned to Lynn subject to Class A draft. Having failed to draft the player during the major league drafting dates, the Brooklyn management is alleged to have requested Nashville to draft the player for them, offering to pay expenses. This having been done by Nashville, the whole transaction is declared illegal


September 10, 1908  Nashville Vols hurler Johnny Duggan pitches a no-hitter with a 1-0 shutout over Little Rock at Sulphur Dell


March 29, 1909  The Chicago Cubs and the Nashville club engage in a game with the Cubs beating Bill Bernhardt's Vols 3-0, with Boston Red Sox players attending the game. The Cubs and Red Sox are holding spring training in Nashville, and in the next two days the Nashville Club will meet the Red Sox


September 19, 1910  New Orleans and Nashville complete their game in Nashville in 42 minutes


September 23, 1910  William Bernhardt announces that he will not manage the Nashville team next season. The Vols first baseman, William Schwartz, will reportedly be offered the job to manage; he has formerly managed at Akron


October 10, 1910  President Ford Kuhn of the Nashville Baseball Club closes a deal with Bill Schwartz to manage the team next season. Schwartz played first base for Nashville the latter part of the 1910 season


December 17, 1910  W. G. Hirsig is elected President of the Nashville Baseball Club

May 28, 1911  For the first time in twenty-five years, a league game was played in Nashville on a Sunday.  Play was interrupted twice by deputy sheriffs who served warrants on players, but the game was not delayed over ten minutes total.  New Orleans won 10-8 over Nashville


August 18, 1911  Charles Cates pitches Nashville to a 4-2 win over Montgomery


May 23, 1912  Southern Association President William M. Kavanaugh threatens to transfer games scheduled for Nashville to Little Rock or some other city unless he hears from the officials of the Nashville club regarding the status of a receivership hearing


March 20, 1913  The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Nashville Vols 11-8, as Frank "Home Run" Baker hits a home run over the centerfield fence at Sulphur Dell, and Eddie Collins hits an inside-the-park home run. Egan, Barry, and Collins had become ill from eating 'planked' fish, but Barry and Collins are able to participate in the game


March 18, 1914  Infielder Artie Hofman and outfielder Del Young join the Federal League and are suspended by Nashville


February 11, 1915  Outfielder Bert King and pitcher Heine Berger refuse to sign 1915 contracts, holding out for more salary from the Nashville club


August 21, 1915  Manager William Schwartz announces in Mobile, AL that first baseman Eugene Paulette has been sold to the St. Louis Browns. Paulette will not report until the end of the season. Dick Kauffman, Gus Williams, and two additional players will report to Nashville as part of the deal


September 1, 1915  Nashville Vols centerfielder Floyd Farmer participates in 3 double plays. The plays are scored as: Farmer to Stark (ss), Farmer to Rogers (p), and Farmer to Paulette (1b)


December 20, 1915  Nashville acquires 3 players from the Quincy, IL club: outfielder Sherrer, catcher Boegle, and pitcher Tretter. All are secured under optional agreement


June 18, 1916  Nashville pitcher Tom Rogers hits Mobile third baseman Johnny Dodge with a pitch, striking him in the face


June 19, 1916  Johnny Dodge, Mobile infielder who formerly played with the Reds and Phillies in 1912 & 1913, dies from injuries suffered from being hit by a pitch from Nashville's Tom Rogers the previous day


July 11, 1916  Tom Rogers pitches a perfect game for Nashville against Chattanooga, striking out 4 and winning 2-0. The game time is one hour and 25 minutes. The Vols manage only one hit against Chattanooga's Jim "Lefty' Allen


September 11, 1916  The president of the Nashville club re-signs Roy Ellam as manager for the 1917 season


May 27, 1918  Nashville collects 27 hits in winning against Chattanooga 20-0


February 21, 1919  Roy Ellam is re-elected manager by the directors of the Nashville baseball club


March 27, 1919  The Vols begin spring training at Sulphur Dell with 13 players reporting. Wet grounds forced Manager Roy Ellam to postpone workouts until March 28


March 28, 1919  John D. Martin, president of the Southern Association, arrives in Nashville to urge the State Supreme Court to render an early decision in allowing Sunday baseball games


April 12, 1919  The Tennessee Supreme Court today renders a decision which permits Sunday baseball in the state. The Court holds that the blue laws of 1893 do not apply to baseball, as the game was not then being played


March 26, 1920  Thomas T. Wilson, T. Clay Moore, J. B. Boyd, Marshall Garrett, Walter Phillips, W. H. Pettis, J. L. Overton, and R. H. Tabor charter a corporation, with the State of Tennessee, "Nashville Negro Baseball Association and Amusement Company", for the purpose "of organizing base ball clubs and encouraging the art of playing the game of baseball according to high and honorable standards and of encouraging the establishment of a league of clubs in different section(s) of the state; and also of furnishing such amusements as usually accompanying base ball games and entertainments. Said corporation to be located in Nashville, Tennessee, and shall have an authorized capital stock of $5,000.00"


August 14, 1920  Harry Grabiner, secretary of the Chicago White Sox, announces that pitcher George Washington Payne and catcher George Lees have been sent to the Nashville club to replace pitcher Clarence Clement "Shovel" Hodge and catcher Clarence 'Bubber' Jonnard while they are being given a trial with the Alabaster Sox


October 5, 1920  Roy Ellam, manager of the Nashville club since the 1916 season, is dismissed, stating from his home in Conshohocken, PA "I understand they charge me with not getting results"


June 25, 1921  Manager Hub Perdue is dismissed as manager and second baseman Chick Knaupp is placed in temporary charge of the team


June 23, 1922  Vols catcher Gil Meyers is spiked by Little Rock pitcher Wallace Warmoth in a play at first base, and Meyers' tendon is severed above his ankle. The surgeon who operates on him states that Meyers will be out of baseball for good


July 18, 1923  Lance Richbourg, is sent to Nashville from Columbia, South Carolina and later converts to the outfield from third base


September 21, 1923  Hazen Cuyler, who batted .340 and led the league in stolen bases with 68, reports to the Pittsburgh Pirates after being purchased by the major league team. Cuyler led the Vols with a .340 batting average and led the league in stolen bases with 68 during the season


December 13, 1923  Vols catcher Eiffert is traded to London, Ontario of the Michigan-Ontario League, for catcher Leo Mackey. Harris, Fields, and Lankenau are sold to London


March 13, 1924  Nashville acquires pitcher Harry G. Shriver and outfielder Bert Griffith from the Brooklyn team of the National League. The purchase price is not disclosed


October 9, 1924  Former Nashville player Jake Daubert, after disobeying his doctor's orders and playing in Cincinnati's last game of the season in New York, dies from complications of an appendectomy performed the week before


April 7, 1925  The Chicago White Sox win their 16th consecutive spring training game in Nashville versus the Vols, 12-6


July 7, 1925  At the player's own request, Chet Tolson is returned to Nashville by the American League Cleveland club. Tolson who had been acquired by Cleveland only the week before, states that he is not ready for the major leagues


July 30, 1925  Nashville shortstop Johnny Bates gets two hits in a game against Atlanta, beginning a 46-game consecutive hit streak that does not end until September 17, 1925 against Little Rock. During his streak, Bates amasses 72 hits and 44 runs and ends the 1925 season with a .349 mark


August 27, 1925  Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Commissioner of Baseball, announces that has has found no justification for penalties to Vols players Fred Eichrodt and Lute Roy for allegations of attempts to switch the two players to New Orleans for the remainder of the season to enhance the Pelicans chances to win the championship. However, the Commissioner states that Vols manager Jimmy Hamilton is "highly censurable for encouraging Ralph McGill, sports editor of the Nashville Banner, to publish the story". Larry Gilbert, manager of the New Orleans club, testified in Chicago


September 7, 1925  Evelyn Burnette, niece of Nashville baseball club president J. A. G. Sloan, is killed when the car driven by her uncle overturns on a curve of the Dixie Highway in Tullahoma, Tennessee en route to Chattanooga for today's ball game


October 25, 1925  The Vols announce that Jimmy Hamilton has been retained as manager for a fourth season


February 12, 1926  Nashville Vols manager Jimmy Hamilton purchases the Raleigh club of the Piedmont League. Hamilton will remain as manager of the Nashville ball club for 1927


March 25, 1927  The first contest held in the new 'turned-around' ballpark is an exhibition game played between the Nashville Vols and Minneapolis Millers. The Millers win 5-3 and Minneapolis right-fielder Dick Loftus hits the first home run in the new park


March 26, 1927  The Toledo Mud Hens visit new Sulphur Dell and player-manager Casey Stengel hits a triple against Nashville


April 1, 1927  Vols second baseman John Black pinch-hits for the pitcher in the fourth inning and slugs Nashville's first home run in Nashville's new ballpark in an exhibition game against the Milwaukee Brewers


April 7, 1927  The 65th General Assembly of Tennessee adjourns early to see Babe Ruth and the NY Yankees play the St. Louis Cardinals at Sulphur Dell. A resolution had been adopted to invite Ruth to address the Senate, but he sent word that it would be impossible for him to appear because of a lack of time.  The Cardinals beat the Yankees 10-8


April 12, 1927  On opening day of the Southern Association schedule in Nashville, Atlanta Crackers outfielder George "Mule" Haas slams the first regular-season home run hit at new Sulphur Dell. Haas' blast comes in the second inning. Atlanta wins 10-2 before 7,535 loyal Nashville fans


June 27, 1927  Nashville defeats the Birmingham club 2-1 in 11 innings, snapping the Barons streak of 19 successive wins


March 22, 1928  The Minneapolis Millers of the American Association option first baseman Jim Oglesby to Nashville


March 24, 1928  The New York Yankees option right-handed pitcher Louis McEvoy to the Vols


April 1, 1928  The Cincinnati Reds fall to the Vols 3-2 at Sulphur Dell


December 7, 1928  Blackie Carter, outfield, and George Milstead, left-handed pitcher, are purchased by Nashville from Toledo. Nashville also sells Leo Mackey, catcher, to Mobile, and trades Oscar Fuhr, left-handed pitcher, to New Orleans for Beans Minor, outfielder and first baseman


April 5, 1929  Canton, managed by former Vol manager Jimmy Hamilton, wins an exhibition victory from Nashville 17-11. Due to field conditions at Sulphur Dell, the game is played at Centennial Park


August 19, 1929  Clarence Rowland's Vols have recorded 20 wins to only 3 defeats in their past 23 games while hammering out 10 home runs and pulling to within a game and a half of first place

June 14, 1930  Vols first baseman Jim Poole hits 3 home runs, a double, and a single against Mobile to set a new league record with 15 total bases


December 30, 1930  Clarence H. Rowland, manager of the Nashville Club for the past 2 years, purchases the Reading, Pennsylvania club of the International League. Rowland will operate and manage the team in 1931


May 18, 1931  The first regular season night game is played at Sulphur Dell. The Vols lose to Mobile, 8-1


June 20, 1931  Fay L. Murray, part-owner of the American Association Minneapolis Millers, purchases the Nashville Volunteers. Joe Klugman is retained as manager and Edgar Allen as business manager


February 2, 1932  John W. "Moose" Clabaugh is sold to Baltimore of the International League for $1,000


April 5, 1932  The Nashville Vols defeat starting pitcher Ted Lyons and the Chicago White Sox 8-4 as Stan Keyes lifts a 2-run homer over the 262-foot right field fence in the first inning


April 12, 1932  Attendance for opening day is 14,502 loyal fans. Seating capacity is 8,000 in the grandstands, and the outfield is lined off with rope to accommodate the crowd


June 16, 1932  Stanley Keyes, a right-handed batting outfielder, clears the centerfield fence just to the right of the flag pole; the home run ball is estimated to have traveled 420 to 460 feet


July 7, 1932  Joe Klugman is released as manager of the Vols, and Charlie "Chuck" Dressen is appointed as replacement


August 25, 1932  Nashville loses a seven-inning perfect game to Memphis' George Grainger


December 31, 1932  Johnny Gooch, Nashville Vols catcher who batter .334 during the 1932 season, is sold to the Boston Red Sox. The Southern Association's new salary limit of $4,250 was the cause of the sale, announced Vols vice-president Jimmy Hamilton


May 28, 1933  Lance Richbourg, Nashville outfielder, hits four home runs in a doubleheader against Birmingham, three in the first game


October 22, 1933  While managing a barnstorming team playing in Mexico City, Mexico, Lance Richbourg is struck in the face by Cuban umpire Senor Hernandez after Richbourg disputes a decision at home plate


February 22, 1934  The Nashville Vols announce plans are underway to affiliate with Columbia, South Carolina, recently granted a franchise in the Piedmont League whereby several Nashville players will be sent to Columbia


February 24, 1934  Charles Dressen, manager of the Nashville Vols, announces that he will leave the hospital where he has been treated for typhoid fever since December 26th, and should be in good shape to resume his position with the team when the club starts spring training on March 15th


April 7, 1934  Charles Dressen's Vols wins against the New York Yankees 5-4 in a game at Sulphur Dell. Before a crowd of 3,000, the Yankees are stymied by the pitching of Hal Stafford, who relieved in the 5th inning and allowed only 4 hits through the last 5 innings, striking out 5. James P. Dawson, New York Times reporter, describes Sulphur Dell's unique feature as "the right field here is cut out of a hill and is terraced, making it necessary for a fly-chaser to combine hill-climbing ability with speed and accuracy in fielding the ball". Dawson also reports that Babe Ruth "almost broke one of his legs catching Rodda's fly on the climb in the first. The Babe slipped and stumbled but climbed on and came up with the ball". Ruth is 2 for 4, as is Lou Gehrig


April 8, 1934  Before a crowd of 5,000, the Vols beat Joe McCarthy's New York Yankees 6-5 for the second day in a row. James P. Dawson reports the game for the New York Times, saying that two home runs at Sulphur Dell "cleared the high fence and a 30-foot wire extension on the abbreviated mountain in right field". Babe Ruth goes 2 for 3, Lou Gehrig is 1 for 2, and Bill Dickey is hitless in 5 at-bats


July 28, 1934  Nashville Vols manager Chuck Dressen is announced as new Cincinnati Reds manager, taking over for Bob O'Farrell on July 30th. Lance Richbourg, Nashville outfielder, is named to take Dressen's place as Nashville manager


September 18, 1934  Vols win first game of Southern Association playoffs vs. New Orleans 17-11 in Nashville. Manager Lance Richbourg leads his team before 9,000 fans as Nashville scores 13 runs in the 7th inning


September 21, 1934  The New Orleans Pelicans defeat the Vols 7-2 in the Southern Association playoffs. Clay Bryant holds the Nashville team to six hits


March 31, 1935  Alfred Cuccinello, who hit .320 for the Vols in 1934 and who is the younger brother of Brooklyn infielder Tony Cuccinello, signs with the NY Giants


March 31, 1935  The New York Giants release two rookies to Nashville: outfielder Jim Asbell and pitcher John Leonardo


May 10, 1935  John Gooch, who caught in the majors with Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, and Cincinnati announces he is leaving the Nashville team. Frank Brazill, manager, has no comment


August 10, 1935  The Nashville Vols announce that Hal Stafford, right-handed pitcher, is being farmed to Williamsport, Pennsylvania of the New York-Penn League


November 16, 1935  Lance Richbourg, outfield for the Nashville Vols, is named manager of the club for the 1936 season. This will be his fourth time to manage the team, succeeding Johnny Butler


March 20, 1936  New York Giants defeat the Vols 19-8 in Defuniak Springs, FL exhibition before 2,000 fans. Right-hander John Intlekofor is chosen by Manager Lance Richbourg to start the game for Nashville, and walks the first four batters he faces before being yanked


April 15, 1936  Player-manager Lance Richbourg scores seven runs in a game against Knoxville


June11, 1936  Nashville's line-up strikes out seventeen times against pitcher Jennings 'Jinx' Poindexter of Little Rock


June 19, 1936  Branch Rickey, general manager of St. Louis in the National League announces that the Cardinals have purchased veteran right handed pitcher Flint Rhem (4-3) from the Nashville club


September 7, 1936  The NY Giants purchase Nashville shortstop George Scharein (.288), who will report to the major league club in the spring


June 6, 1937  In Knoxville, Vols catcher Stuart Hofferth hits three successive homers over the leftfield wall


June 14, 1937  Jim Bivin is traded by the Vols to Galveston of the Texas League for outfielder Peck Hamel


October 9, 1937  Chuck Dressen, recently ousted manager of the Cincinnati Reds, is named Nashville Vols manager. He signs a one-year contract for $10,000, and has previously served as Nashville manager before becoming the Reds manager


March 29, 1938  Fay Murray, president and owner of the Nashville club, calls on Larry MacPhail in Clearwater, FL during spring training. Accompanying Murray is Chuck Dressen, manager, and Jimmy Hamilton, business manager. It is termed a social call by MacPhail


June 13, 1938  Nashville outfielder Harvey Walker makes an unassisted double play against Little Rock


May 21, 1938  Ralph Birkofer, southpaw, joins the Vols and Jack Kimball, veteran right-hander, is returned to Brooklyn. Kimball has won only one game in his four starts this season


August 9, 1938  The Vols receive $25,000 and two players to be named later from the Brooklyn Dodgers for pitcher Will Crouch (14-7) and catcher Stuart Hofferth. Both will report to the Dodgers next spring


November 8, 1938  Fay Murray announces that Larry Gilbert, veteran manager of the New Orleans Pelicans, is the new Nashville Vols manager succeeding Charlie Dressen, who resigned after signing to become a coach of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Murray said that Gilbert, who has been the pilot of the Pelicans since 1923, will become a part owner of the club


April 9, 1939  On Easter Sunday, the Philadelphia Phillies and Nashville Vols battle in Nashville, with the National League team winning 12-9. The Phils collect 14 hits, while the Vols get 15 hits off of Max Butcher and Elmer Burkhart


June 14, 1939  Larry McPhail, executive vice president of the Brooklyn Dodgers announces that the Nashville Vols, Class A-1, will continue their working agreement for 1939


July 7, 1939  Larry Gilbert, Nashville manager, is named as coach of the Cartwright team in a National Association game vs. the Doubleday team to be played in Cooperstown, NY commemorating the one hundredth year of baseball. The Doubledays and the Cartwrights combined have players, managers, and coaches representing every minor league team in the United States for the first time in history


August 14, 1939  The Brooklyn Dodgers acquire Charles Gilbert and Calvin Chapman, both left-hand-hitting outfielders with the Nashville Vols, paying $40,000 for the duo


September 25, 1939  The Nashville Vols win over Fort Worth in the 2nd game of the Dixie Series 9-8 in 10 innings to knot the series at a game apiece in the best-of-seven series


October 2, 1939  Fort Worth defeats the Vols 11-0 on a one-hitter spun by pitcher Fred Marberry, in the 6th game of the Dixie Series. Only four men reached base for the Nashville team, two getting walks. The series is now tied 3-3


March 2, 1940  Baron "Boots" Poffenberger is purchased by the Nashville Vols from the Brooklyn Dodgers


April 12, 1940  With the weather around 39 degrees, the Nashville Vols take a 6-0 lead and coast to a 12-8 opening day victory over the Atlanta Crackers before a crowd of 8,206 chilly fans


June 30, 1940  After Commissioner Landis declares him a free agent from the Detroit minor league system, pitcher Johnny Sain signs with the Nashville club


July 8, 1940  The Southern Association All-Stars, with a 17-hit attack featuring home runs by Paul Richards and Rufe Hooks, defeat the Nashville Vols 6-1 at Sulphur Dell before a crowd of 5,500. Nashville's Boots Poffenberger is the losing pitcher


August 11-12, 1940  Oris Hockett, Nashville outfielder, plays in three games in two days, garnering ten consecutive hits. On August 11th, in the first game of a double-header in Memphis, he gets a hit in his last at-bat; in the second game, he is 4-for-4. The next day, against Knoxville, Hockett is 5-for-5


September 7, 1940  Nashville recalls six players to report to the team at the beginning of the 1941 season, including Woody Johnson, pitcher from Wilkes-Barre of the Eastern League


September 10, 1940  Nashville sells Charley "Greek" George, hard-hitting catcher, to the Chicago Cubs. George, who hit .335 in 140 games with the Volunteers, will report next spring. The Vols receive an undisclosed amount of cash along with Julian Tubb, right-handed pitcher who was 12-11 for Tulsa of the Texas League


September 11, 1940  In a Southern Association playoff game, George Jeffcoat, Nashville pitcher, strikes out seven consecutive Chattanooga batters on his way to tallying a league record eighteen strikeouts


September 30, 1940  Nashville beats the Houston Buffs 5-3 to capture the Dixie Series title after scoring two runs in the 10th inning on two errors and a base hit


March 4, 1941  Fay L. Murray, 60-year-old owner of the Nashville club, dies after a brief illness


March 9, 1941  Spring training begins for the Nashville Vols in Baton Rouge, Louisiana


April 10, 1941  Chattanooga defeats the Vols 4-3 at home in the season opener for both clubs. George Jeffcoat is the losing pitcher even though he holds the Lookouts to five hits in the first eight innings but falters in the 9th


April 13, 1941  Against Chattanooga, outfielder Marvin Felderman bats three times in one inning


April 29, 1941  Thomas T. Wilson and Bertha Steele Wilson charter a corporation, "Elite Giants Baseball Club, Incorporated" with the State of Tennessee, "to maintain a club for social enjoyment, gymnastics, and/or baseball, to engage in sports and games, such as baseball, between other athletic clubs. It shall be the purpose of said corporation to conduct ball games and charge as admission a fee to the same, to organize a baseball team, the players of which are to be paid a salary for their services, and to dispose of said players to other teams, or persons, for a profit, to own; lease, or build a baseball park, or grand stand for the purpose of conducting said games and to erect, build, or lease, buildings or stands necessarily incidental thereto; to sell such refreshments and provide such entertainment as are usually sold and provided at baseball parks, and to do this by concession, or otherwise." The value of the stock in the new corporation is "Twenty five (25) shares of common voting stock, with a par value of one hundred ($100.00) dollars a share."


June 20, 1941  Arnold Meers, Nashville pitcher, issues twelve walks to Knoxville batsmen


June 25, 1941  Boots Poffenberger, Nashville pitcher, is suspended for 90 days after throwing at umpire Ed "Dutch" Hoffman during the prveious night's game. Boots was ordered off the field by the arbiter after "continual griping and use of abusive language", and instead of leaving the field turned and threw the ball at the umpire


July 27, 1941  In salute to recognition of his selection as the outstanding minor league manager in 1940, Larry Gilbert, pilot of the Nashville Southern Association's club, receives the Sporting News award at ceremonies held at Sulphur Dell


August 1, 1941  The Chicago Cubs acquire Russell Meers, left-handed pitcher, and catcher Marvin Felderman from the Nashville Vols. Both will report to the Cubs at Catalina island in 1942 for spring training


August 24, 1941  Lawrence M. Gilbert, Jr., son of Nashville manager Larry Gilbert, dies at the age of 27. A heart ailment had forced him to abandon sports, and had been confined to a local hospital for some time


August 25, 1941  Southern Association president Trammell Scott postpones Nashville's home contest vs. Little Rock tonight out of respect to the family of Larry Gilbert, Jr., son of the Vols manager


September 20, 1941  Mickey Kreitner, who spent the season at Americus, Georgia in the Georgia-Florida League, joins the Nashville Vols in their playoff run. Kreitner had been bat boy for Nashville during the previous five years.


September 26, 1941  After finishing in second place in the Southern Association, the Dixie Series is won by the Vols after winning their fourth straight game from Dallas, 6-2. It is the second Dixie championship won by the Vols


April 4, 1942  Before 3,500 fans, the NY Yankees route the Nashville Vols 10-1. The Vols muster only six hits, while the Yankees collect a total of 15 including a three run homer by Don Pulford. Charley English hits a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning off Lefty Gomez


April 5, 1942  For the second straight day, the NY Yankees defeat the Vols 11-6 at Sulphur Dell, under a barrage of 18 hits. Before 8,000 fans, Tommy Henrich, Charlie Keller, and Joe DiMaggio hit home runs. John Drebinger, reporter for The New York Times, reports that "the outfield here is sharply terraced and the long clouts of DiMaggio, Keller, and Gordon had the Vol outfielders scampering up the slopes like mountain goats". Joe McCarthy, Yankees manager, leaves for Philadelphia immediately after the game to attend the funeral of his brother


April 19, 1942  In the first inning of the second game of a double-header in Knoxville, the first nine Nashville batters each get on base with a hit, a walk, or an error; the same nine score in succession. The order is: Roy Marion, Jim Shilling, Legrant Scott, Gus Dugas, Charley English, Charley Workman, Mickey Kreitner, Johnny Mihalic, and Dutch McColl


June 12, 1942  Vols Charley Workman, Hank Helf and Charles Gassaway hit homers off Knoxville pitcher Steve Warchol on three straight pitches


July 25, 1942  Paul Erickson (1-6), 200-pound right handed pitcher for the Chicago Cubs and from nearby Zion City, IL is optioned to Nashville


August 1, 1942  The Vols acquire Bob Bowman, right-handed pitcher, on option from the Chicago Cubs. Bowman, is currently at Toronto and will report to Birmingham on Sunday


August 27, 1942  Nashville scores ten runs in the first inning before the Lookouts can retire a batter. Final score: Nashville 21, Chattanooga 6


September 5, 1942   Right-handed pitcher George Jeffcoat (13-12) and Outfielder Charley Workman who leads the Southern Association in homer runs with 29 and batting average with .329, are sold to the Boston Braves. The purchase price is not disclosed, both will report to the major league team in the spring


February 27, 1943  1942 Southern Association batting champ Charlie English, is sold to the LA Angels of the Pacific Coast League by the Vols


July 9, 1943  Nashville defeats the Southern Association All Stars, 3-2. It is the second All Star Game hosted by the Vols. Mel Hicks, Johnny Mihalic, and Whitey Platt of the home team garner two hits apiece



July 31, 1943  Although he will finish the season with the Vols, first-year shortstop Ray Hamrick is sold to the Philadelphia Phillies for undisclosed cash


August 18, 1943  In a 26-13 win over Atlanta, every Nashville player gets at least one hit, scores at least one run, and all except Charles Brewster knocks in at least one run; Charley Gilbert bats 8 times in the game


September 4, 1943  Nashville outfielder Ed Sauer, leading the Southern Association in hitting with a .369 average and in stolen bases with 30, is sold to the Chicago Cubs for cash, catcher Walter Ringhoffer and an undisclosed player. Sauer, recently voted the leagues MVP in a poll conducted by the Nashville Banner, is to report at the end of the current Vols season


September 13, 1943  With a 12-hit barrage, the Vols beat four Pelicans pitcher to win the Southern Association championship in New Orleans, 7-0. The series ends 4 games to 1


September 15, 1943  Dale Alderson (13-7), right handed pitcher for the Vols, is purchased by the Chicago Cubs


September 16, 1943  Four Nashville Vols, fresh from winning the Shaughnessy Playoffs for the Southern Association championship, report to the Chicago Cubs in St. Louis: outfielders Eddie Sauer, Charley Gilbert, and Mizell Platt along with pitcher Walter Signer


March 3, 1944  Charles Fred "Red" Lucas, sold to the NY Giants in 1922 by the Vols, returns to Nashville as pitcher, pinch-hitter, and coach. The right-hander hurler Lucas, out of baseball in 1942 & 1943, spent 15 years in the major leagues with the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and NY Giants and with Chattanooga in the Southern Association and other minor league teams


May 20, 1944  Two Chicago Cubs pitchers, Garth Mann and southpaw John Burrows are optioned to Nashville


June 11, 1944  The Vols acquire hard-hitting outfielder Manny Salvatierra from the LA Angels of the PCL


June 16, 1944  Outfielder Ed McBee is sold to Portsmouth of the Piedmont League


July 6, 1944  Vols pitcher Mack Stewart (18-5) is purchased by the Chicago Cubs and pitcher Dale Alderson is optioned to Nashville


September 19, 1944  Charlie Brewster, Vols shortstop, is sold to the Chicago Cubs for cash consideration. He had been traded to Nashville by the Phillies for Ray Hamrick. His batting average is .341


July 23, 1945  The Nashville Vols acquire pitcher Joe Strincevich from St. Paul of the American Association


September 1, 1945  Right-handed pitcher Mack Stewart is recalled by the Chicago Cubs, along with Charlie Brewster, .300 hitter for the year


March 8, 1946  Johnny Hudson, former NL infielder with the Giants, Cubs, and Dodgers, is acquired by the Vols. Hudson last played with the Montreal Royals in the International League and will probably be used at 2nd base by the Nashville club


April 8, 1946  Today's exhibition game at Sulphur Dell between the NY Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers is cancelled due to morning rains and a downpour which came 45 minutes before its scheduled start. The outlook for the game called for 7,500 fans to turn out, as all reserved seats were sold out and 4,000 fans were turned away


April 30, 1946  Robert 'Dutch' McCall strikes out 17 Atlanta Crackers batters in a 9-5 victory for the Vols


July 8, 1946  On successive pitches, Vols Pete Thomassie, Cy Block, and Bill Manning hit home runs off Little Rock pitcher Bob Raney


August 3, 1947  Albert 'Rube' Walker, left-handed batting catcher for the Vols, hits safely in his last two trips to the plate against Little Rock. His string of 10 consecutive hits ends four days later on August 7th, when in his second at-bat against the Chicks, he hits a sizzling grounder to Ted Kluszewki who tosses to pitcher Dick Mauney for the putout at first


December 12, 1947  Larry Gilbert announces that the Vols will spend spring training in Pensacola, FL in 1948


April 16, 1948  Harold (Buster) Boguskie collects six hits on Opening Day, April 16, 1948, just missing collecting his 7th on a close play at first base


May 26, 1948  Birmingham Barons first baseman Walt Dropo makes three errors in a game versus the Vols in Nashville; the next night, he repeats his feat by making another three errors at Sulphur Dell


June 20, 1948  The Nashville Vols hosts the Southern Association All Stars at Sulphur Dell. Al Todd field general is selected to manage the All Star team


July 4, 1948  Nashville catcher Forest "Smoky" Burgess collects three doubles and two home runs in a 21-4 rout of Chattanooga


July 28, 1948  In the 12th inning of the Southern Association All Star Game hosted by Nashville, Charlie Gilbert smashes a home run to give the Vols a 4-3 win


September 8, 1948  Larry Gilbert, in his final game, is honored for 25 years as a manager in the Southern Association


December 8, 1948  Rollie Hemsley is named manager of the Nashville Vols, succeeding Larry Gilbert who moves to the front office


July 12, 1948  The Southern Association All Stars crush the host Vols 18-6


April 15, 1949  In a game in Chattanooga on Opening Day, Carl Sawatski hits a home run that travels at least 520 feet and bounces among the railroad tracks outside Engel Stadium. It is considered to be the longest homer ever hit by a Vols player


April 17, 1949  Nashville pounds pitcher Louis "Bobo" Newsom and Chattanooga 7-1. The 41-year-old Newsom had joined Chattanooga after winning 205 games in the major leagues and was hurling his first minor league game since 1933


June 13, 1949  Carl Sawatski hits a home run over the ice house beyond the right field fence at Sulphur Dell


August 31, 1949  Setting a Southern Association season record, Carl Sawatski smashes his fifth grand slam in a 24-4 win over Atlanta. It is his 24th homer of the season


January 29, 1950  Veteran catcher Eddie Fernandes, is purchased by the Vols from Oakland of the PCL. Fernandes will coach as well as handle the second-line catching chores


May 10, 1950  Nashville defeats Little Rock 7-1, dropping the Travelers to their 21st consecutive defeat. The loss by Little Rock sets a Southern Association record that had stood for 33 years


May 11, 1950  Little Rock beats Nashville, ending their record-setting 21-game losing streak. It is their 2nd win in 26 games


February 20, 1951  Harry S. "Steamboat" Johnson, colorful Southern Association umpire for 27 years, dies in Memphis, TN at age 66


July 21, 1951  Pitcher Umberto Flammini of Nashville tosses a no-hitter against the Atlanta Crackers, winning 2-0


September 18, 1951  Al Lary, promising rookie right-hander for the Vols, is sold to Springfield, MA of the International League. However, he will pitch for the Vols throughout the 1952 season


October 11, 1951  The Nashville club signs a working agreement with the NY Giants through the NY club's American Association farm club at Minneapolis. The Vols recently terminated their agreement with the Chicago Cubs


April 4, 1952  The NY Yankees defeat Larry Gilbert's Nashville club 10-1 in front of 4,000 Vols fans, getting fifteen hits against three Nashville pitchers


July 11, 1952  Nashville Vols star Jim "Dusty" Rhodes is purchased for $25,000 by the NY Giants and is to report to the team in Cincinnati on July 13th. The 25-year-old, 6-ft 178-pound left-handed line-drive pull hitting right-handed outfielder leads the Southern Association in batting with a .357 average. Through 82 games, Rhodes has 114 hits including 14 homers, 4 triples, and 27 doubles; he has 62 RBIs and scored 64 runs


January 3, 1953  Former Nashville outfielder Charles Workman, who batted .353 for the Vols in 1948, dies in Kansas City of internal hemorrhaging resulting from an ulcer


April 6, 1953  12,059 fans turned out to see the Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the Milwaukee Braves 3-1. Warren Spahn is the losing pitcher as the Braves muster only one run on catcher Ebba St. Claire's home run over the high right field wall. The Dodgers' Dick Williams doubles off the left field wall and drives in two runs. Nashvillian Junior Gilliam is 2-4 to lead the Dodgers


April 7, 1953  Mickey Mantle hits a 420-foot 2-run double in the 7th inning as the NY Yankees beat the hometown Vols 9-1 before 2,693 fans. Louis Effrat, reporting in The New York Times, quotes one Yankee player as describing playing in Sulphur Dell as "It's like playing in a telephone booth", and quoted Casey Stengel, New York manager, recalling that in 1912 when he was playing with Montgomery in a game at Sulphur Dell, "I dragged the ball and it went over the right-field fence for a homer". Yankee pitching coach Jim Turner, a native Nashvillian, is honored at home plate before the game by Governor Frank G. Clement who appointed Turner a Tennessee Colonel on the Governor's staff


February 13, 1954  "Tookie" Gilbert, 24-year-old backup first baseman for the NY Giants and popular former Vol, announces his retirement from baseball


April 4, 1954  In a 3 hour and six minute game played before 12,006 fans at Sulphur Dell, the Milwaukee Braves defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers 18-14. Carl Furillo smacks a grand-slam, and George "Shotgun" Shuba, Duke Snider, and Ed Mathews each hit homers. Roy Campanella pinch-hits and works the last inning behind the plate as Junior Gilliam anchors 3rd and Jackie Robinson plays 1st


June 19, 1954  New Orleans wins in Nashville 9-7 in 16 innings


September 5, 1954  In a Labor Day doubleheader at home, Nashville's Bob Lennon hits three homers to give him a league-record 64 homers for the season


September 27, 1954  Joe Schultz, manager of Tulsa in the Texas League for three years, is named manager of the Nashville Vols replacing Hugh Poland. Larry Gilbert, general manager, also announces that the Vols are ending their 3-year working agreement with the NY Giants, and have signed a working agreement with the Cincinnati Reds for the 1955 season


January 22, 1955  Ted Murray and Larry Gilbert, co-owners of Nashville in the Southern Association, confirm that they face the loss of their franchise it has held since the league was organized in 1901. A 30-day option for the purchase of Sulphur Dell, the city's ball park, has been obtained from them by a syndicate in Nashville. Reportedly, the plan of the syndicate is to sell the property for business purposes and demolish the grandstand. It is reported that Knoxville, Tampa, and Jacksonville are anxious to obtain the franchise


August 20, 1955  Earl D. Averill, 24-year-old Nashville catcher and son of Hall of Famer H. Earl Averill, hits three consecutive home runs and two doubles to set a new league mark for total bases with sixteen


August 20, 1955  Nashville catcher Earl D. Averill is named as defendant in $50,000 damage suit following a fight in Chattanooga after Averill breaks the jaw of Chattanooga shortstop Lyle Luttrell. Averill is arrested on the scene and later released on $500 bond. He was later suspended for ten days and fined $50


April 4, 1956  Only 7 days after Sulphur Dell is under fourteen feet of water, Eddie Mathews hits three home runs to lead the Milwaukee Braves over the Brooklyn Dodgers 10-8. Mathews' first homer off Don Newcombe is a 340-foot drive over the left field wall. Tom Lasorda relieves in the 9th inning for the Dodgers. Sandy Amoros has two home runs and Hank Aaron also has a homer as Johnny Logan has two doubles and a triple


April 8, 1956  The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Braves 12-2 before an overflow crowd of 11, 933. Gil Hodges hits a home run, and the Dodgers collect a total of 17 hits in the win. Del Rice, catching for the Braves, lifts a high fly over the right-center-field wall for a homer


April 7, 1957  The Cincinnati Reds defeat Washington 9-7 before 5,842 fans after the Nats lose a 5-0 lead. Joe Nuxhall, Hal Jeffcoat and Raul Sanchez pitch for the Reds, while Roy Sievers belts a triple and homer, driving in three runs. Herb Plews and Pete Runnels get two hits each


October 18, 1957  Nashville re-hires Dick Sisler as player-manager for the 1958 season. Sisler, who also plays first-base, led the Vols to a 3rd-place finish in 1957


April 8, 1958  Jay Hook, bonus baby right-hander signed out of Northwestern University by the Cincinnati Reds, is assigned to Nashville


April 23, 1959  A near free-for-all erupted between New Orleans and Nashville players in the ninth inning of tonight's game. The fight began when Vols catcher Eddie Irons, irritated at comments from the Pelicans bench directed at him and pitcher Bill Beck, charged towards the New Orleans dugout. There were no punches thrown, but Irons and Pelicans pitcher Kelton Russell were ejected and each was fined $5

May 8, 1959  Playing the Memphis Chicks and trailing 7-0 in the bottom of the ninth, the Nashville Vols score eight runs to win 8-7.  The remarkable comeback began as Buddy GIlbert singled, Phil Shartzer hit a double, and Haven Schmidt homered; Carlos Castillo and Tommy Dotterer each singled, causing a pitching change by the Chicks manager.  Marv Blaylock and Crawford Davidson singled, and after another pitching change for Memphis Chico Alvarez hits for a single.  Catcher Eddie Irons raps a triple to give Nashville the win.  There were no outs, no walks, and no  errors during the inning as the Vols rapped nine consecutive hits for eight runs


April 8, 1960  Nashville's Sulphur Dell hosts an exhibition game between the Milwaukee Braves and the Cincinnati Reds


April 10, 1961  Vice-president Lyndon Johnson throws out the first pitch at today's game between the Vols and the Chattanooga Lookouts at Sulphur Dell


August 16, 1961  Nashville outfielder Joe Christian collects four doubles and a triple in a game against Macon


September 7, 1963  The last professional baseball game is played at Sulphur Dell, with the Vols of the South Atlantic League facing Lynchburg in a double header


September 16, 1963  Facing a deficit of almost $22,000, the directors of Vols, Inc. surrender their South Atlantic League franchise without a dissenting vote. Board chairman Jack Norman will assign a committee to look into the feasibility of retaining Sulphur Dell, which would mean a continuation of the corporation which owns the ballpark


March 3, 1964  46-year-old Fred Vaughn, who played second and third base for the Nashville Vols in 34 games during the 1948 season is fatally injured in an automobile accident near Lake Wales, Florida


February 17, 1965  Larry Gilbert, former Vols manager from 1939 to 1948, dies at Mercy Hospital in New Orleans. The cause is not given. He was born in New Orleans December 3, 1891, and appeared in 72 games with the Boston Braves hitting .268 in 1914. He returned to Boston in 1915 and hit .151 while playing in 45 games. Gilbert served as general manager of the Vols after stepping down from managing, and retired from the Nashville club in 1955


April 29, 1967  John Butler, who managed the Nashville Vols for part of the 1935 season, dies in Long Beach, California after suffering a stroke


December 14, 2004  Rod Kanehl, former Nashville Vol player, passes away in Palm Springs, California. Kanehl was the first NY Mets player to hit a home run


August 30, 2007  Former Nashville Vols pitcher Hal Jeffcoat passes away at the age of 83