The Nashville Tigers were a minor league baseball team that played in the Class B Southern League from 1893 to 1894. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, and played their home games at Athletic Park, later known as Sulphur Dell.
Under the management of Ted Sullivan, the Tigers finished the first series of 1893 in last place out of twelve teams. Their play was hampered by a preponderance of injured players, which led to high roster turnover and the frequent substitution of local amateur players to make out a full lineup. Consequently, the once robust attendance at Athletic Park declined as the season progressed, eventually putting the team in such dire financial condition that Sullivan surrendered the franchise to the league. They fared better in the second series and were in eighth place on August 12 when circuit-wide financial problems forced the league to disband.
Reminiscent of the previous year, the 1894 Nashvilles found themselves last out of eight teams just one month into the season. In contrast, manager George Stallings made a series of roster moves that strengthened the team, enabling it to move up to sixth place by the close of the first series on June 27. On that date, the league was reorganized as a four-team circuit since financial problems had forced half of its teams to drop out. The Tigers played the first night game in Nashville some 40 years before the first Major League Baseball game was played at night. On July 7, nine games into the second series, Nashville, sitting atop the standings, disbanded as Stallings and other managers sensed the impending total collapse of the league, which occurred on July 11.
A total of 69 players competed in at least one game for Nashville across both seasons. Of these, 40 also played for major league teams. Among the players who went on to have notable major league careers were Bill Hoffer, Con Lucid, Dusty Miller, John O'Brien, Bill Phillips, and George Stallings.
History
Formation
Professional baseball was first played in Nashville, Tennessee, by the Nashville Americans, who were charter members of the original Southern League from 1885 to 1886 and played their home games at Sulphur Spring Park, later renamed Athletic Park and Sulphur Dell. This ballpark was to be the home of Nashville's minor league teams through 1963. In 1887, the city's Southern League team was called the Nashville Blues. The club suffered financially from poor attendance throughout the season to the extent that they chose to withdraw from the league and disband on August 6 after losing nearly US$18,000 in an effort to cut their losses. Nashville did not field another professional team for the next five years.
As early as August 1892, while that season was still being played, a few groups were interested in securing a Southern League franchise for Nashville for the next season. At the league's annual meeting on October 31, held at the Kimball House in Atlanta, the league elected to expand from eight teams to twelve for the 1893 season. New franchises were issued to Augusta, Charleston, Nashville, and Savannah, which joined the existing circuit consisting of Atlanta, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Memphis, Mobile, Montgomery, Macon, and New Orleans. The Nashville franchise was awarded to Ted Sullivan, who previously owned and managed the Chattanooga franchise. The teams pledged to pay a $250 deposit to guarantee they would play the entire season. They later agreed to set aside 3% of the gross proceeds of each game for a sinking fund to keep the league on firm financial ground. Player salaries were capped at $1,000 with a penalty of forfeiture of games for exceeding that amount.
In the weeks leading up to the season, Southern League teams acquired nicknames from their local fans and sportswriters. The Nashvilles were variously referred to as the "Hibernians", owing to Sullivan's Irish heritage, and the "Bluffers", the nickname of spring training player Josh Conley. Sullivan did not want his team called by either of these names. Instead, he preferred "Nashville Tigers". Both of the city's daily newspapers, The Daily American and Nashville Banner, followed suit by using the moniker in coverage of Nashville's games.
The first season Spring training 1893
Ted Sullivan, who was to manage the Nashville club, secured the lease for Athletic Park and began to sign players. He sought out men he considered to be dependable and who were known as experienced, skilled ballplayers. Nine of the thirteen who began the season with Nashville had prior experience on major league teams. Some of the more seasoned major leaguers Sullivan acquired were Sam LaRocque, Tom O'Brien, and Tom Vickery. Another was Bill Geiss, who also played for the 1885 Nashville Americans. Sullivan himself had played a few major league games and had managed big league clubs including the 1884 Union Association champion St. Louis Maroons.
Players were to report to Nashville by March 18 for several weeks of practice and exhibition games before the beginning of the season on April 10. A few of these exhibitions were played against teams from the National League, the only major league at the time, who traveled south to prepare for their seasons in a warmer climate. Their first two tuneup games were versus the St. Louis Browns on March 23 and 24 at Athletic Park. The Browns won the first game, 10–3. In the second day's game, St. Louis' players walked off the field in the bottom of the seventh inning following a disagreement with the umpire. They refused to continue playing, and, though leading 8–6 at the time, the umpire awarded the game to Nashville on forfeit. The Baltimore Orioles visited Nashville for two games on April 7 and 8. The National Leaguers won the first contest, 3–0. The second game resulted in a 9–9 tie when it was called on account of darkness after nine innings.
Other exhibition games were played against amateur, collegiate, and minor league teams. The Tigers defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores, 18–11, in a March 25 game that was halted after eight innings due to darkness. They bested the Vanderbilts again on March 30 and 31, 11–0 and 9–1. Nashville beat a picked team from Louisville, 18–11, on March 27. They split an April 3 doubleheader with the Chattanooga Warriors, losing the first game, 16–7, and winning the second, 8–6. The teams then traveled to Chattanooga for two more games on April 4 and 5. Nashville lost both by scores of 5–3; the second game was called after the sixth inning on account of rain. On April 6, on the way home from Chattanooga, the Tigers defeated the Sewanee collegiate team on their grounds, 7–5.
The first series of 1893
The Southern League played a double, or split, season wherein two pennants were awarded, one to the winner of each series. The winners would then play each other for the league's championship. The Nashville Tigers were set to begin the first series of 1893 at Memphis on April 10. Their Opening Day roster consisted of pitchers Albert Boxendale, Thomas Gillen, Bill Phillips, and Tom Vickery; catcher Kid Summers; first baseman Tom O'Brien; second baseman Reddy Mack; third basemen Joe Burke and Bill Geiss; shortstop Sam LaRocque; left fielder DeLoss Wood; center fielder Dusty Miller; and right fielder Bill Krieg.
Prior to the season opener, the Tigers and the Memphis Fever Germs were paraded behind a brass band through the streets of Memphis to Citizens' Park. Nashville took an early lead with four runs scored in the first, but came out on the losing end of a back-and-forth battle in the late innings, losing 9–7. They were defeated again the next day. After game three was rained out, the teams traveled to Nashville for the Athletic Park home opener on April 13. Memphis scored four runs in the first off of Phillips, who was pulled without recording a single out. His reliever, Boxendale, retired the side and did not allow the Memphians to score again. The Tigers came back with a seven-run second inning, giving the home team all the runs they needed to secure their first win of the season, 8–4, before a crowd of approximately 1,200 people. The first in a profusion of season-long roster moves began that day. Geiss, who played the first two games at third base, left the team when Burke was slotted to hold down third in the home opener. Phillips, allegedly upset with what Sullivan said upon removing him from the mound, deserted the team after the game. Nashville and Memphis met again in a doubleheader on April 15 to make up for the previous day's rainout, each winning one game.
The Tigers then embarked on a lengthy road trip for the remainder of the month. For the benefit of hometown fans, telegraphed descriptions of road games were to be announced at the Olympic Theatre throughout the season. Outscored by opponents 109–80, Nashville won only four out of twelve games on the road. They returned home on May 1 in ninth place at 6–11 (.353), but they were expected to make up ground over the course of the upcoming month-long homestand. In an effort to improve pitching during the trip, Sullivan added Bill Hoffer to the team on April 21. He also released Tom O'Brien at the end of the trip due to his struggles at the plate and acquired Josh Conley to take over at first base on May 2, but he was released on May 6 for the same reason. Billy O'Brien, of the 1886 Americans, was brought in to play the position on May 4.
One bright spot of the homestand occurred on May 9 when the recently acquired Hoffer nearly no-hit the Montgomery Colts. He allowed only one hit, a ground rule double, and walked four batters in the 8–0 Tigers win. Wet grounds at Athletic Park necessitated a premature end to the Nashville games on June 2 and the transfer of the upcoming series with the Atlanta Windjammers to the away team's grounds. On May 29, the battered Tigers had dropped into last place. Despite Sullivan's assurance that the team would move out of the cellar and into the pennant chase, they ended the homestand on June 2 having won 10 games and lost 12, a marginal improvement, standing at 16–23 (.410). Sullivan was criticized by the Nashville press for drawing the highest attendance in the Southern League while having one of the worst on-field performances and cheapest payrolls. The Nashville Banner hypothesized that unless he invested in higher-caliber players, the citizens of Nashville would not long continue their faithful patronage of such an under-performing team.
Seeking to improve matters, Sullivan began making major roster moves in mid May that continued throughout the first half. Changes were so frequent that players were added and subtracted in almost every series. Vickery, frustrated by his own pitching in a May 18 outing, requested and received his release, but recanted days later and was welcomed back. Nearly three weeks afterward, still struggling on the mound, Sullivan let him go after a loss on June 3. Pitcher Gillen, dealing with a nagging preseason injury, was released after a disappointing outing on May 20. Fellow twirler Boxendale jumped the team on June 1, dissatisfied with his standing in the club. Center fielder Paul Hines, added on May 24, was released four days later due to his poor hitting and fielding along with second baseman Mack, whose indifferent play lost ball games and irked fans. Outfielders Krieg and Wood were dismissed on June 2. Shortstop William Wetterer, who joined on May 27, left the team to be with his dying wife on June 9. Outfielder Tom Letcher, added on June 5, left on June 16 to attend to his ill wife. O'Brien was lost after suffering an injury requiring hospitalization on June 28.