Book Signing, Baseball in Nashville

Skip Nipper will be signing copies of his book, Baseball in Nashville (Arcadia Publishing) at the Nashville Sounds game tomorrow night, Saturday, June 21st vs. the Memphis Redbirds at Herschel Greer Stadium.

Born and raised in Nashville, his interest in local baseball is deeply-rooted in his life-long interest in The National Game, interlaced with fond memories of Nashville’s famous ballpark, Sulphur Dell, shared by others through http://www.sulphurdell.com/.

A 1972 graduate of Memphis State University, Nipper has been a sporting goods sales representative for 37 years for New Era Cap Co. He took great delight in compiling this photographic history of Nashville’s illustrious baseball history.

Nipper is president of the Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association, a member of SABR (Society of American Baseball Research) and the Grantland Rice-Fred Russell (Tennessee) Chapter of SABR. He also has served as president of the Sporting Goods Agents Association and is a member of the National Sporting Goods Association.

Besides baseball historical research, Nipper enjoys reading, collecting baseball memorabilia, and attending games of the minor league Nashville Sounds.

He hopes that this compilation will rekindle memories for baseball fans in the Nashville area and that his publication does justice to Nashville’s baseball past. Nipper regards the book as a present to his father, Virgil Nipper, who laid the foundation for his own memories through suppertime discussions and backyard practices.

Detroit's Tiger Stadium

Word comes that Tiger Stadium in Detroit is due to meet the wrecking ball. There have been efforts to preserve the old ballpark, or at least to keep some portion of the hallowed grounds as a monument to all the famous ballplayers who strolled the outfield, roamed the infield, and valiantly threw from Detroit's pitcher's mound. Yet, the park is destined for demolition.

It does not take much thought for a city to preserve their historical parks, if not just for the past memories, but for the future of the game itself. With emphasis on Reviving Baseball in the Inner City (RBI) programs, don't those kids need a place to play? And wouldn't a historical site be just the ticket? If there was ever a reason to keep the park in some form, that sure seems to be logical.

Perhaps it is unreasonable to expect the towering grandstands to be kept, but the field itself would be a proud testament to past generations, and a practical place to play for future ones.

Much has been said about Birmingham and its old ballpark, Rickwood Field. Lots of games are played there each year, and the city takes great care of it. Many youngsters must enjoy playing on dirt and grass that Willie Mays and other ballplayers did, too.

We keep taking thrills away from our kids, don't we?

Southern Association Friendships

For the past few years Friends of Rickwood has held a Southern Association reunion conference that has been very well attended. Persons have traveled from Southern Association cities Atlanta, Mobile, New Orleans, Memphis, Birmingham, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Little Rock. Others have made their way from far-away places such as Tampa and Minneapolis, all to share ideas, memories, and research with each other.

With oral and visual presentations, memorabilia displays and collections, and ballpark visits, the conference has had plenty to offer. But that's not all.


As enjoyable as the conferences have been, even better has been the friendships that have been made that have lasted from those times. Regular emails, phone calls, and continued ballpark visits together have resulted in continued research and memorabilia finds, unreluctantly shared among the baseball bunch.

And now and then, someone opens their home and baseball den to anyone who wants to see.


Rallying around a the common interest of the old Southern Association has helped to keep the memories alive, too. The opportunity to get together is always shorter than anyone likes, but it is always great to rub elbows with each other, tell a story or two, or consult over the latest 'find'.

So, here is my tribute (knowing that I am going to leave someone out): Thanks Clarence, Lamar, Joe, David, Bill, Randall, Derby, David (another one), Tony, Ben, Dave, Ken, Mark, Bill (another one of those, too), Phil, Kevin, Johny, Larry, and Dan, and any others whose names I just can't recall.

I am grateful for being able to call you "baseball friends".

Enjoy the Game!

Back To Rickwood

Birmingham, Alabama still has something that not many cities have: Their old ballpark that dates back to the earliest part of the 1900s.

No, Rickwood Field is not the same as Fenway or Wrigley, but it comes pretty darn close albeit for a minor league ballpark. No, there is no Wrigleyville or crowds in the streets or shops nearby. This minor league ballpark has an aura all its own, and is neatly wrapped in green and black in its original neighborhood setting.

One can take in the sights surrounding the game being played, but for just one moment one should close their eyes and listen to the ballpark sounds. It really does take one back to an earlier day.

The Friends of Rickwood organization, led by amicable David Brewer, continues to maintain the best features of Rickwood. The annual Rickwood Classic allows fans and players to experience 'what it used to be like', and the event is always well-attended.

Rickwood Field

The Birmingham Barons will face the Jacksonville Suns in a Southern League game at historic Rickwood Field tomorrow, May 28th, at 12:30 PM. One game each year is hosted by Friends of Rickwood, an organization that oversees the old ballpark that was home to Birmingham's minor league teams and the Negro League Black Barons for many seasons.

It's a wonderful testament to the olden, golden days of baseball.

Rickwood Field is a step back to those days, with terrific sight lines from any seat in the grandstand. The weather-washed outfield signs add to the atmosphere that recalls sunny Sunday afternoon doubleheaders and cool, early season night games under the lights.

And once a year, at least, fans get to revisit their long gone heroes and visions of past ballgames.

Over 200 games are still played at Rickwood, including college, high school, and amateur games. The stadium and outfield walls may have stopped in place, but the infield continues be dragged, the foul lines are still laid out, and the outfield grass is cut, all in anticpation of the next scheduled game.

It's too bad Nashville did not have the vision to maintain old Sulphur Dell. Maybe the right field porch would not have been kept, and that would have been just fine, if only the field would still be around for today's players to use it. Grandsons and nephews and great-grand-whatevers would enjoy playing in the park that generations before them loved playing in.

It's just too bad.

Country Music's Eddy Arnold

Recently beloved singer Eddy Arnold passed away. Arnold was a supporter of Nashville baseball and made an investment in the local team during the winter of 1958.

That year, a group of local businessmen formed Vols, Inc. to purchase the financially-strapped minor league Nashville Vols from T. L. Murray. One of those civic leaders was Eddy Arnold. Shares in Vols, Inc. were sold at $5 each, and 4,876 shares were sold. At the end of the 1959 Southern Association baseball season, the venture had lost almost $3,000.

Although the number of Vols, Inc. shares owned by Arnold is unknown, he served as secretary of the corporation. For anyone who owns an old stock certificate, Arnold’s facsimile signature is on it (so is Hershel Greer’s; the current PCL Nashville Sounds stadium is named for him).



The Vols, Inc. organization owned the ballclub through 1963 when it was disbanded after the demise of the Southern Association after the 1961 season, an absence of pro baseball in Nashville in 1962, and a one-year presence in the Southl Atlantic League. Sulphur Dell was sold in 1965 and torn down in 1969.

Nashville Sounds Downtown Ballpark Proposal

The Nashville Sounds downtown ballpark issue seems to be dead. That’s too bad.

Have we reverted to politics as it was in the early 1900s, when politicians would not allow ballparks to be built on valuable property and were instead built near city dumps, railroad yards, and meat-packing plants?

With teams playing in such poor locales, the fans came anyway, to enjoy the game that would become the nation’s favorite pastime. Professional baseball became recognized as a valuable community entity and businesses sprang up around ballparks because fans spent their money there before and after the games.

Memphis, Louisville, and Indianapolis have focused on ballparks as the central theme for development and built beautiful, fan-friendly stadiums. Steadfast fans, and a whole lot of new ones, flocked to the games and brought their families with them.

The riverfront thermal plant site in Nashville will eventually become a first-class commercial enterprise no matter who the developer is. I cannot explain the details for the pitchers’ duel between Streuver Brothers and the Sounds, but I do know that a tenant was ready to move into a finished ballpark.

We can allow the Sounds to remain at dilapidated Greer Stadium or find a less-desirable place to build a park. But heaven forbid that we watch another dynamic city reach out and take our Sounds away.