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© 2024 Nashville Baseball Podcast
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Baseball history in Nashville and interviews with local baseball figures as told by Skip Nipper - researcher, author, writer, and historian...
122 Episodes
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The first ceremonial opening day “first pitch” took place in National Park, later to be named Griffith Stadium, on April 14, 1910, by William Howard Taft, preceding the game between the Philadelphia Athletics and Washington Nationals.It began a tradition by presidents, dignitaries, entertainers, and other special guests before games in the major leagues. Many teams have started games throughout the season with the custom, including Nashville’s minor league teams.On April 8, 1961, Vice Preside...
Scrolling through online sources for baseball games (whether one word, “baseball,” or two “base ball,” every once in a while I come across something with added interest.I am going to take you back to October of 1868, Saturday, the 3rd, and then fast-forward to an article in the Sunday, July 10, 1927 edition of the Nashville Banner, entitled “C. S. Caldwell Relates Baseball Happenings of 59 years Ago.”You see, Caldwell played in the game in 1868, and you will learn about his recollection of th...
Before Dick Sisler was Nashville Vols manager, his claim to fame was secured several years before as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.In a previous episode I told about his career and events during his Nashville tenure. But his feat on October 1, 1950, his home run that sealed the National League pennant, broke the spell of expectations for the son of a Hall of Famer, and I felt more needed to be said.Sisler’s story continues beyond his minor and major leagues managing career until he re...
Tom Wilson built a ballpark for his Nashville Elite Giants and opened it in time for the 1929 Negro Southern League season. It became an venue for not only baseball, but family gatherings, festivals, and all sorts of events for all people, Black or White.In this episode, I give background about Tom Wilson's life, including when he demolished his ballpark and built the Paradise Ballroom to his passing in 1947.Listen as I give you the precise location of Tom Wilson Park!Want to stay in touch? F...
I want to tell you about a great baseball player who came out of the ranks of the Nashville Interscholastic League and made his way to the major leagues for nine seasons and had about as much talent as anyone who came out of Nashville.That player was Bobby Tillman, a 6’4” right-hander, signed out of Middle Tennessee State College by Red Sox scout, George Digby in 1958. Tillman passed away on June 23, 2000, of a heart attack at the age of 63; but his legacy in sports, especially baseball, live...
Even though the Nashville franchise would exist until the demise of the Southern Association after the 1961 season, the handwriting was on the wall. The excitement of a new era of Nashville baseball possibly being ushered in for 1955 seemed fleeting, even with a new Vols/Reds affiliation.Were the opening-day rainouts the precursor to the last years of a storied franchise?Want to stay in touch? Find me here:Twitter: Skip's CornerInstagram: @skipscornerFacebook: Skip NipperEmail me: 262downrigh...
Negro Leaguers statistics for past years have been elevated equal to that of Major League players. Not all years, but in particular, seven leagues for various seasons. No easy task for researchers and historians who have been working on this project, it now brings to light the on-the-field efforts of many Black baseball players, as the stats now change leaderboards in many categories.Two native Nashville players, Norman "Turkey" Stearnes and Henry Kimbro, recognized for the talents but not wi...
This week I wondered about the number of knuckleball pitchers with a Nashville connection.I have seen videos of thrown knuckleballs with little or no rotation, haven’t you? Besides kids in your neighborhood, or having a catch in Little League practice, how many of them were thrown by someone with a connection to Music City?In this episode, I tell about ballplayers who called knuckleballs their “go to” pitch, and about the one from around here.Listen in!Want to stay in touch? Find me here:Twit...
Once the Civil War was over, local teams began to flourish in Nashville. These base ball clubs formed the foundation of future teams in the late 19th Century, including the non-professional Nashville Maroons.One of the claims for the earliest teams included a long-time battery, Robert "Lefty" Corbitt and Ed Mrzena, in 1891. I have the photograph that shows both men, along with teammates.Fast-forward to today, a team in the Tennessee Vintage Baseball Association has taken on the name "Nashvill...
Today’s subject is the Chinese University of Hawai‘i and its baseball team – in 1914. I am sure you are wondering what this team has to do with Nashville, and I know you know I always talk about Nashville’s baseball connections.There is one.Vandy’s 1914 baseball schedule listed May 18 and 19 against the “Chinese Team of Hawaii.” Wait a minute. Did I read, that right, “Chinese Team of Hawaii?This seemed to be an oddity, certainly, and no team I had ever heard of before. I had to do a bit of re...
In a rare occurrence, the pennant-deciding game between Nashville and New Orleans on the last day of the 1908 season was halted in the middle of the seventh inning for a ceremony to honor Nashville’s most popular player: Doc Wiseman. He was awarded a gold pocket watch for eight years playing with the local team. It was inscribed with the following:“Presented to Julius A. Wiseman for Efficient Service, Nashville Baseball Club, 1901-1908."Wiseman was more than that, playing three more season to...
Sulphur Dell was not just a baseball venue. Concerts by Tex Ritter, Jackie Wilson, and James Brown were held at what was Nashville's event center. Dick Clark’s Cavalcade of Stars, Esther Williams’ Water Follies, and the Shrine Circus drew large crowds, and barn-storming baseball exhibitions were held at the memorable ballpark before its demise.In the episode, I tell how the ballpark became Nashville's baseball home, who hit the first home run in the "turned around" Sulphur Dell, how far away ...
I wrote a story this past week about Jeff Peeples, one of the most dominating athletes ever from Nashville. If you would like to read it, you can find it at baseballinnashville.com.In writing that story it brought back memories I have of playing as a 15-year-old in the Nashville Babe Ruth League. Today, I can look back on that season as a special one. It was satisfying to have so many great teammates, great coaching, and all have resulted in great memories.If you will listen, I hope it will b...
In what must be one of baseball’s most productive offensive games ever in Sulphur Dell, Chattanooga outlasted Nashville, 24-17, in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday, June 12, 1946.Nashville won the first game that day by a score of 4-3, but the nightcap was one for the record books.Listen as I tell about this and other high-scoring games in the 1940’s, some of them for the Southern Association record books!Want to stay in touch? Find me here:Twitter: Skip's CornerInstagram:...
Have you ever wondered what ballplayers did during the off-season back in the day when salaries were not exorbitant like they are now?What did Nashville Vols do in the offseason?In this episode, hear how players would be spending their winter once the 1952 Southern Association season ended!Want to stay in touch? Find me here:Twitter: Skip's CornerInstagram: @skipscornerFacebook: Skip NipperEmail me: 262downright@gmail.comAll Skip’s Corner episodes © 2022-2024 by Skip Nipper. All Rights Reserv...
Hugh Hill was born on July 21, 1879, in Ringgold, Georgia, and signed with Newt Fisher’s 1901 Nashville baseball club in the inaugural season of the Southern Association. As a pitcher, he won six games while losing five, playing in 51 games because he was also an outfielder.The ball club won the pennant that season, and when 1902 rolled around, Fisher had Hill on his ball club for another year. And what did he do in his second season?Hill hit for a .416 batting average. Depending on who you b...
Today, April 1st, marks a day of notoriety all its own. I have heard of pranks on April Fool’s Day that run the gamut, and if you have had fun with it, been the butt of a joke, or if you have made a family member mad, it is a fun day in most cases. Unless it is taken to an extreme, which I do not forgive. Some are funny. Others? Not so much.Baseball has a history on April 1, too, from games to player’s birthdates and deaths. In this episode, you will hear a few of my favorites in all those th...
It was going to be the trip of a lifetime, and boy, was I excited about it. For most of my life, I had dreamed of visiting Cooperstown, and finally, it was going to happen.In this episode, I tell about a special visit that rivals two spring training trips, MLB World Series and All-Star games, and the birth of all four of my children.Well, maybe not the last part. But it I will cherish my first visit to the special place known as the National Baseball Hall of Fame!Want to stay in touch? Find m...
Betty-Jane Taylor and I have known each other through her husband Larry, who not only played for the Nashville Vols, but was basketball and baseball coach at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.Larry passed away not quite two years ago, on April 21, 2022, at the age of 91. He was a good baseball friend and loyal member of the Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association.International Women’s Day was celebrated only a few days ago, but the month to recognize women is March and I was fortunate to be ab...
Tennessean sports editor Dave Ammenheuser coordinated a spring training trip in 2016, and I tagged along with high school teammate Bart Leathers and everyone’s “Mr. Nashville Baseball”, Farrell Owens (both deceased). Dave has moved on to various assignments, but eight years later, here we are to talk about that great six-games-in-five days “immaculate visitation!”It was a remarkable time with friends, and I hope you enjoy listening to us talk about our trip!Want to stay in touch? Find me...
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