Nashville Tigers

Nashville Tigers 1893–1894 Nashville, Tennessee
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-level
Unclassified (1893–1894)
Minor league affiliations
Southern League (1893–1894)
Major league affiliations
Unaffiliated (1893–1894)
Name
Nashville Tigers (1893–1894)
Ballpark
Athletic Park (1893–1894)
Minor league titles
League titles	None

Paul Hines of the 1893 Nashville Tigers (circa 1887)

1894 player-manager George Stallings (circa 1914)

The Nashville Tigers were a minor league baseball team of the Southern League from 1893 to 1894. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee and played home games at Athletic Park, which was opened in 1885. Preceded by the Nashville Blues, the Tigers were Nashville's third professional baseball team. The Tigers are credited with playing the first night baseball game in the city on July 6, 1894.^[1]

Team history

1893

In 1893, the Nashville Tigers replaced the Nashville Blues, which folded towards the end of the 1887 season, as Nashville's entry into the Southern League. The 12-team circuit also included the Atlanta Windjammers, Augusta Electricians, Charleston Seagulls, Chattanooga Warriors, Macon Central City, Memphis Giants, Mobile Blackbirds, Montgomery Colts, New Orleans Pelicans, Savannah Electrics, and a team from Birmingham that later relocated to Pensacola. The Tigers played their home games at Athletic Park, which would later come to be known as Sulphur Dell. With a distance of 262 feet (80 m) to the right field wall, it was a notorious hitter's park.^[2]

The Tigers were managed by former major league player and manager Ted Sullivan in their inaugural season. They finished in last place with a 33–60 record.^[1]

The most notable event of the season happened before the season was even underway. That April, the Tigers participated in a two-game exhibition series against the original Baltimore Orioles of the National League.^[3] In the first game of the series, Baltimore's George Treadway, a right fielder, hit a double, scoring shortstop John McGraw in the first inning. Tredway added another run with his home run in the sixth. McGraw was hit by pitch in the eighth and later scored on left fielder Harry Stovey's triple. The Orioles outscored Nashville by a final tally of 3–0.^[3]

Game two resulted in a tie score (9–9).^[3] The game would have been played to conclusion, but was called on account of darkness in the ninth inning.^[3] During the fourth inning, the game's only umpire was removed due to the Baltimore club disagreeing with some of his questionable calls. Oddly, he was replaced by Tom Vickery, Nashville's pitcher from the previous day's contest.^[3]

1894

The Tigers returned to play in 1894 under the management of player-manager George Stallings. The Southern league was reduced to eight teams which also included the Atlanta Atlantans, Charleston Seagulls, Macon Hornets, Memphis Giants, Mobile Bluebirds, New Orleans Pelicans, and Savannah Modocs.

On July 4, Nashville and New Orleans were scheduled to play a night game at Athletic Park. This was long before ballparks were equipped with electric lights and night games were seen as gimmicks.^[4] To put time into perspective, the first major league night game was not played until 1935.^[4] The game was rained out twice, but finally rescheduled for July 6 as a tripleheader. The first two games would be played during the day, with the special night game to be played that evening.

The teams spilt the day-doubleheader, each winning one game. That evening, 54 large electric lights were placed around Athletic Park to light the field; the baseball was also covered with phosphorus to aid visibility.^[1] Adding to the novelty of a night game, players came onto the field wearing costumes that included grass skirts, ballet costumes, loud suits, bonnets, and dresses.^[1] The decidedly unusual contest drew an estimated 4,000 fans; typical games drew only a few hundred.^[1] The Nashville Tigers won the game by a score of three runs to two.^[1] This marked the first time that a night baseball game was played in Nashville. This feat is often incorrectly attributed to the Nashville Vols in 1931.^[1]

That year, the franchise finished the first half of the season in sixth-place with a 24–35 record.^[1] Approximately nine games into the second half, the league folded due to financial problems with franchises. Some teams were selling their players to other clubs in order to stay financially solvent, while others refused to continue play. This prompted the Southern League to call the rest of the season off. As of the last game, the Tigers were in first-place with a 6–3 record.^[1]

The top hitters for the 1894 team were first baseman Charles Dooley (.332), second baseman John O’Brien (.319), and shortstop Pete Sweeney (.278).^[1] The top two pitchers were George Borchers (11–14) and George Harper (8–3).^[1] In 1894, the Tigers franchise was replaced by the Nashville Seraphs.

Season-by-season results

Nashville Tigers
Year	Record	Win %	Finish
1893	33–60	.355	8th
1894*	30–38	.441	6th
Totals	66–98	.402	—

* The league suspended operations approximately nine games into the second half of the season.

All-time roster

Sixty-nine men are known to have played for the Tigers.^[5][6] Due to the state of recordkeeping at the time, first names are missing for some players.

1893

King Bailey Harry Berte Daniel Boland Albert Boxendale Joe Burke Clarence Conley John Dolan Ike Fisher Bill Geiss Thomas Gillen Henley Paul Hines Bill Hoffer Hughes John Keenan

Bill Krieg Frank Lacourage Laird Bob Langsford Sam LaRocque Edgar Leach Leiter Tom Letcher Con Lucid Reddy Mack Mart McQuaid Dusty Miller Charlie Newman Billy O'Brien Dick Phelan

Bill Phillips Pat Ready Smith Sowders Sullivan Ted Sullivan Kid Summers Wally Taylor Harry Truby Turner Tom Vickery William Wetterer William York

1894

Ollie Beard George Borchers George Cleve Cline James Collopy Charles Dooley Frank Fletcher Carney Flynn John Harper

Jackson William Kinsler Jacob Lookabaugh Jack Meara Meeker Sam Moran John O'Brien Peralto Abner Powell

Josh Reilly Sam Shaw George Stallings Pete Sweeney Pop Swett Webster Milt Whitehead William Works

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Traughber, Bill. "Looking Back: Nashville Plays Night Baseball In 1894." Nashville Sounds. August 4, 2008. Retrieved on October 8, 2008.
2. ^ Traughber, Bill. "Looking Back: Seraphs Win 1895 Championship." Nashville Sounds. May 10, 2004. Retrieved on March 22, 2008.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Traughber, Bill. "Looking Back: Famous 19th Century Orioles Visit Nashville." Nashville Sounds. May 2, 2005. Retrieved on October 8, 2008.
4. ^ ^{a b} "Night Baseball Arrives in the Majors." Crosley Field. Retrieved on October 8, 2008.
5. ^ "1893 Nashville Tigers." Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved on November 30, 2008.
6. ^ "1894 Nashville Tigers." Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved on November 30, 2008.