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53-441: Managed by George Bradley , the team attained first place on May 9, approximately three weeks into the season, in the midst of a 12-game winning streak. The Blues stayed atop the standings for over a month, but were weakened by the resignation of Bradley on May 17 and the sale of ace pitcher Al Maul on June 13. Though little else changed with the roster, the team was not the same after these losses. Under new manager Jim Clinton ,

106-456: A relief pitcher . How much control a manager takes in a game's strategy varies from manager to manager and from game to game. Some managers control pitch selection, defensive positioning , decisions to bunt , steal , pitch out , etc., while others designate an assistant coach or a player (often the catcher ) to make some or all of these decisions. Some managers choose to act as their team's first base or third base coach while their team

159-599: A 33–31 (.516) record, had taken to the field for the last time. On August 6, the directors of the Nashville Base Ball Association decided to withdraw from the Southern League after having lost nearly $ 18,000 on the venture. This meant the forfeiture of their $ 1,000 guarantee, but saved them the approximate $ 4,000 to $ 6,000 that would have been necessary to finish the season. Unlike the poorly patronized Nashville Americans in late 1886, who were so far down in

212-458: A 9–2 win over the Pelicans. The team that had done so well in the early part of the season had not been the same since Bradley stepped down as its manager. The loss of Maul, for both his on-field performance and encouragement given to players, was a follow-up blow. The shorthanded and strained pitching corps was the area most in need of improvement. Gibson dislocated his ankle on July 8 and was done for

265-492: A baseball field and required improvements to make it suitable for professional teams. The main Jackson Street entrance led past the ticket booth and into the grandstand's reserved seats behind home plate and a screen backstop . Rooms for players, directors, scorers, and reporters were built under the grandstand. Restrooms and water fountains, which pumped up sulphur water from the springs below, were also built. The distance to

318-456: A staff of assistant coaches whose responsibilities are specialized. Field managers are typically not involved in off-field personnel decisions or long-term club planning, responsibilities that are instead held by a team's general manager . The manager chooses the batting order and starting pitcher before each game, and makes substitutions throughout the game – among the most significant being those decisions regarding when to bring in

371-517: A team in 1888, but their decision to do so hinged on their ability to play Sunday games. This would generate additional revenue beyond what was brought in from playing the other six days of the week. On January 10, 1888, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the "Sunday base ball law", making it a misdemeanor to play on Sundays. Potential investors consequently refused to finance a team. Nashville did not field another professional baseball club for

424-748: A three-game series from April 11 to 13. Detroit narrowly won the first game, 4–3. The next two meetings were easily won by the National Leaguers, 8–0 and 12–2. The Nashville Blues were slated to open the Southern League championship season of 1887 at Sulphur Spring Park on April 16. Their Opening Day roster consisted of pitchers Larry Corcoran and Al Maul ; catchers Bud Manion and Frank Nicholas; first baseman Michael Firle; second baseman Steve Matthias ; third baseman /manager George Bradley; shortstop Robert Burks; left fielder Jim Clinton; center fielder Icicle Reeder ; and right fielder Jackie Hayes. An additional right fielder, Mortimer Hogan , began

477-558: A warmer climate. The first series was against the minor league Syracuse Stars of the International Association from March 23 to 25. The Nashvilles lost the first game, 15–8, but won the next two games, 7–5 and 11–10. Their next opponents were the Memphis Browns . The cross-state Southern League rivals planned a best-of-seven series to decide the "championship of the state". Memphis took the first game, 5–3, but Nashville tied

530-457: Is batting in order to more closely communicate with baserunners , but most managers delegate this responsibility to an assistant. Managers are typically assisted by two or more coaches. In many cases, a manager is a former professional, semi-professional or college player. From 1901 to 1981, 21% of MLB managers had played catcher during their playing career--the most common. Outfielders made up 16.6% and second basemen made up 13% of managers. Over

583-557: The Nashville Vols from 1901 to 1963. Since 2015, the site has been the location of First Horizon Park , the home stadium of the Triple-A Nashville Sounds baseball team. The Nashville Blues wore two sets of uniforms, one for home games and one for games played on the road. Both outfits consisted of light blue shirts and pants. One set paired these light blue articles with white caps, belts, and stockings, quite similar to

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636-593: The outfield while giving chase to a fly ball for which neither called and neither caught. The error led to a Charleston batter reaching second base and later scoring, which resulted in an Opening Day loss for the Nashvilles, 9–8. The game was attended by about 1,000 people. Cold weather and muddy conditions at the ballpark prevented the playing of the next game on April 18. On the off-day, Bradley selected Matthias as team captain, and he chose Clinton as second captain. The Blues had their first win on April 19. Tied 9–9 in

689-583: The 12 players who began the season with the Blues had prior experience on major league teams. The most seasoned members of the roster were Bradley, Jim Clinton , Larry Corcoran , and Jackie Hayes , who had each appeared in at least 275 big league games. Bradley's men were to report to Sulphur Spring Park on March 15 to begin practice. Their spring training regimen included several series of exhibition games against amateur, minor, and major league teams, many of which traveled south to prepare for their seasons in

742-549: The 24 Hall of Fame managers, 20 were Major League players before becoming managers (the exceptions being Jim Leyland , Joe McCarthy , Frank Selee , and Earl Weaver ). The most recent manager to be elected was Leyland, who was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee in 2024 . Jim Clinton James Lawrence Clinton (August 10, 1850 – September 3, 1921), nicknamed "Big Jim" ,

795-587: The Blues during the 1887 season. Only 9 of the 12 men on the April 16 Opening Day roster remained with Nashville for the entire season. Eleven also played for major league teams during their careers. Manager (baseball) In baseball , the field manager (commonly referred to as the manager ) is the equivalent of a head coach who is responsible for overseeing and making final decisions on all aspects of on-field team strategy, lineup selection, training and instruction. Managers are typically assisted by

848-424: The Blues fell to fourth place out of five teams on July 19, where they remained until disbanding on August 6. The Blues were operated by the Nashville Base Ball Association, which raised US$ 15,000 to fiance the team through the sale of stock. This capital and the revenue from paid attendance at Sulphur Spring Park was not sufficient to cover the $ 3,000 per month necessary to fund the team. After losing nearly $ 18,000,

901-406: The Blues maintained their hold on first place through their return to Sulphur Spring Park on June 15. Nashville, however, soon hit a slump with no sign of improvement. A six-game losing streak to Charleston and Memphis dropped the team to third place by July 4, and more losses caused them to fall to fourth by the end of the homestand on July 16 at 30–21 (.588). They completed the series at home with

954-424: The Blues won 12 consecutive games from April 28 to May 14, and moved into first place on May 9. When the second-place New Orleans Pelicans ended their streak on May 16, Nashville's record was 17–4 (.810). A 10-day break in the schedule began on May 17 with Bradley resigning as manager, but retaining his playing position, thinking it best for his own health and that of the club. He had been sick since May 7, and

1007-449: The May 11 game versus Mobile in which he held opposing batters to four runs on nine hits in the 10–4 Nashville victory. Mortimer Hogan, on the sick list since before Opening Day, found it his duty to play against doctors' orders and help his teammates, making his debut in right field on May 12. Pitcher Joseph Masran was acquired and joined the team on May 14. Even in the midst of illness and injury,

1060-629: The May 27 game at Charleston, telegraphed descriptions of road games would be provided at the Masonic Theater in Nashville. The league experienced some contraction in the latter half of May as financial problems forced Mobile to drop out after May 17 and Savannah to fold after May 28. The Birmingham Ironmakers assumed Mobile's place on June 1. The resulting five-team league made for an awkward schedule with President Morrow initially instructing teams to treat scheduled games against Savannah as off-days, but

1113-470: The National League's Philadelphia Quakers for $ 2,500. His 9–3  record and 2.91  earned run average notwithstanding, with no protection granted to Southern League players the offer was too grand for the club to pass up. Second baseman Spider Clark joined the team on June 28, but was released on July 2 after going hitless in three games. Even with the managerial change and several roster moves,

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1166-457: The affairs of the previous season and lay the groundwork for a more principled league in the next. Nashville was represented by local baseball magnates John Morrow, who was elected to serve as the league's president, and William Cherry. It was decided that each team would pay monthly dues of US$ 150 plus a $ 2,000 deposit to guarantee they would play the entire season. No limit was placed on player salaries. The meeting adjourned without having finalized

1219-410: The club fined Corcoran $ 50 for his drunkenness and unsatisfactory play, suspended him indefinitely, and eventually sold him to the National League's Indianapolis Hoosiers for $ 500 on May 9. Through the first month of the young season, the Blues were playing well and held an 8–3 (.727) record, putting them in second place. On May 7, competing for the first time in 10 days since his injury, Matthias

1272-409: The directors chose to cut their losses and withdraw from the Southern League rather than spend the $ 6,000 needed to play the season to its completion. A total of 21 players competed in at least one game for the Blues. Of these, 11 also played for major league teams. George Bradley, Jim Clinton, Larry Corcoran , and Jackie Hayes all came to Nashville with considerable big league experience. Among

1325-586: The general manager is often called the GM. This usage dates back to the early days of professional baseball when it was common practice for teams to have just one "manager" on their staff, and where GM duties were performed either by the field manager or (more commonly) by the owner of the team. Some owners (most famously, Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics ) carried out both GM and field managerial duties themselves. Major League Baseball managers differ from

1378-516: The head coaches of most other professional sports in that they dress in the same uniform as the players and are assigned a jersey number. The wearing of a matching uniform is frequently practiced at other levels of play, as well. The manager may be called " skipper " or "skip" informally by his players. There have been 24 people who have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum primarily for their careers as managers. Of

1431-468: The home of Nashville's minor league teams through 1963. The Southern League of 1886 gained a disgraceful reputation from the way clubs and league officials engaged in fraudulent activities, gambling, deals, and bargains with seemingly no law or justice being maintained by President Alexander Proudfit. League representatives met at the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville on October 7, 1886, to discuss

1484-414: The involved players as well as the directors and officers of the Nashville Base Ball Association. Under examination, irregularities were found in the passage of the law's bill, leading lawyers in the service of the team to believe it to be unconstitutional. Judge Granville Ridley ruled to the contrary, finding the law was passed legally. Jackie Hayes was tried as a test case, convicted, and fined $ 25. The case

1537-544: The league with a clean slate. The Blues played their home games at Nashville's Sulphur Spring Park . The first grandstand was built at the northeastern corner of the block bounded by modern-day Jackson Street, Fourth Avenue North, Harrison Street, and Fifth Avenue North to accommodate fans of the Nashville Americans in 1885. Located in Sulphur Springs Bottom, the land had hitherto been little more than solely

1590-606: The league's membership, but at the January 20, 1887, meeting in Birmingham , teams were granted to Charleston , Memphis , Mobile , Nashville, New Orleans , and Savannah . Also, the guarantee was reduced to $ 1,000, as other candidate cities, finding the sum too high, refused to join. The Nashville Base Ball Association, a corporation which would operate and finance the local team with $ 15,000 of capital stock, met on December 21 to elect William M. Duncan as its president. The group hired as

1643-472: The next five years until the city was awarded a franchise in the 1893 Southern League called the Nashville Tigers . Nashville dropped out of the Southern League on August 6. They were preceded in disbandment by Mobile on May 17 and Savannah on May 28. Records for these three disbanded clubs are given as they stood on their last days of competition. Birmingham took Mobile's place in the schedule, but entered

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1696-442: The ninth inning of another game featuring much offense, Maul prevented the visitors from scoring any additional runs with the catch of a sharply hit fly ball to right field. What made the otherwise routine play spectacular was that he had to back halfway up the embankment and then fell down but reached up just in time to catch the ball for the out. Nashville broke the tie in their half of the ninth, winning 10–9. The Nashvilles concluded

1749-454: The opening series with a 12–8 win on April 20. At the time, the state of Tennessee had a blue law which banned the playing of baseball on Sundays. However, with the encouragement of city, county, and state officials that the sport prevented crime and promoted good morals, the Nashville club endeavored to make up an April 22 rain-out with the Savannah club by playing on Sunday, April 24. The park

1802-403: The outfield fence was 362 feet (110 m) to left and right fields and 485 feet (148 m) to center. The grandstand and fences received new coats of paint and whitewash in preparation for the Blues' season. In late April, a stand for boys under 15 years old was built on the first base side. The facility, known as Sulphur Dell from 1908, was demolished in 1969 after serving as the home of

1855-517: The players who went on to have notable major league careers afterward were Spider Clark , Mortimer Hogan , and Al Maul. 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 Sulphur Dell . This ballpark was to be

1908-450: The same period, managers who were second basemen had the highest winning percentage. The manager's responsibilities normally are limited to in-game decisions, with off-field roster management and personnel decisions falling to the team's general manager . The term manager used without qualification almost always refers to the field manager (essentially equivalent to the head coach in other North American professional sports leagues), while

1961-449: The schedule was altered a week later to remedy the problem as well as possible. Additional team changes included the release of pitcher Mountjoy on June 1. His replacement, amateur Albert Gibson, pitched in his first game on June 10. The Blues also gained pitcher Patrick Kelly, formerly of the Mobiles, who made his Blues debut on June 11. On June 13, Nashville's ace pitcher Al Maul was sold to

2014-474: The season on the sick list . Playing against the Charleston Quakers in the season opener, the Blues got out to a promising start with two runs in the first inning, but both teams would go on to score often in the game in which they had 27  hits and 11  errors between them. It was an error that helped decide the game in the bottom of the tenth inning. Tied, 8–8, Clinton and Reeder collided in

2067-450: The season. Poor outings by Kelly and Masran and a failure on the part of the team's directors to bring in new twirlers seemed to hint at Nashville's fate. Rumors began to circulate through the city that the ball club would disband before hitting the road, but the team's directors met and resolved to play the season through to the end. Two new players were added to the roster, although briefly, in late July. Amateur outfielder Tom Ford joined

2120-399: The series with an 8–1 game-two win. The Browns handily won the next pair of games, 13–1 and 20–5. Nashville, on the brink of defeat, won game five, 12–3, but lost a decisive game six and the series, 4–0. From April 7 to 9, the Blues won all three games played against an amateur team from Evansville, Indiana , 3–0, 7–1, and 13–1. The National League 's Detroit Wolverines came to Nashville for

2173-451: The standings as to be virtually out of pennant contention, the Nashville public did not support the Blues even when they held a sizable first-place lead in the early goings of the season. Attendance at Sulphur Spring Park, less than an average of 600 people per game, was not enough to cover the $ 100-per-day-minimum required to run the team. It would have taken an average of at least 1,000 fans to adequately cover daily expenses. There

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2226-514: The team for a three-game series in Birmingham from July 19 to 21. In dire need of new arms, pitcher Alexander joined the team on July 25, but he was released on July 31 after three disastrous outings. The Blues lost their August 2 game at New Orleans, 8–4, in 11 innings. The August 3 game was rained out, so the team returned to Nashville that night to wait for their next-scheduled home game on August 10. The team, still standing in fourth place with

2279-400: The team's manager George Bradley , a veteran player with 10 years of major league experience. Nashville's team has come to be known as the Blues. There are no contemporary references of this moniker being attributed to the team, but it is likely an allusion to the light blue shirts and pants they wore. Occasionally, they were termed the "White Sox" because of their white stockings. As

2332-452: The uniforms worn by the National League's Chicago White Stockings . The other combination had red belts and stockings matched with red caps with blue trimmings. The April 17 edition of The Daily American also mentioned the shirts having white lettering and lauded the outfits as "most striking and picturesque." There are no known photographs or illustrations of the team in uniform. A total of 21 players competed in at least one game for

2385-678: Was an outfielder in Major League Baseball . He played ten seasons in three major leagues. He also managed the Brooklyn Eckfords for a short time in 1872, losing all 11 games he managed. Following his playing career, Clinton managed minor league teams in Birmingham , Nashville , and Manchester and worked at a Brooklyn hotel. In 1896 he earned $ 10,000 from the sale of four lots in Oakland, California he had purchased with teammate John Farrow during their playing days. By 1920, Clinton

2438-518: Was appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court after a retrial was denied. The higher court upheld the Sunday base ball law as being constitutional. The locals made no further attempt to play on Sundays. Nashville's first roster changes began after the controversial Sunday game. On April 25, amateur Robert Greene was given a trial at shortstop but was not retained by the team. That same day, Matthias

2491-412: Was badly injured while sliding into home plate and had to be removed from the game. Knowing the importance of his position as captain and aware that he would miss several games, he chose to vacate his captaincy, and Clinton assumed the role. New pitcher Bill Mountjoy led the Nashvilles to a 7–5 victory over Memphis in his debut on April 29. Corcoran was scheduled to pitch on April 30 against Memphis, but

2544-483: Was common at the time, clubs were usually called by the names of their cities. Newspapers generally referred to them as simply Nashville, the Nashville club, or the Nashvilles. There was a team of amateur players from Vanderbilt University known as the Blues concurrent to the professional team. Player-manager Bradley wasted no time in beginning to acquire players for the coming season. He pledged to field "the hardest working organization" Nashville had yet seen. Eight of

2597-444: Was concern across the remaining Southern League cities that the loss of Nashville, the third team to drop out after Mobile and Savannah, would spell the end of the circuit, but league directors met on August 10 in Birmingham and voted to complete the season with a new schedule. The four-team league concluded the season on October 10 without losing any more members. New Orleans won the pennant. Nashville baseball magnates desired to field

2650-506: Was granted a leave of absence to attended to himself and his seriously ill child at home in Cincinnati . Jim Clinton, then the team's captain, was selected to manage the club after Bradley's resignation. Hogan, now fully recovered, was made the new captain. Looking to remain sharp for the resumption their championship schedule, the Nashvilles defeated the H. W. Gradys, an amateur team from Atlanta , 17–6 and 9–6, on May 25 and 26. Beginning with

2703-475: Was replaced by Bradley at the last moment. Before the game, Corcoran was found to be drunk. Memphis manager John Sneed and pitcher Bob Black allegedly got him intoxicated to help the Browns win, thus aiding individuals from Memphis who had wagered a large amount of money against Nashville. When Bradley heard rumors of the plan, he removed Corcoran from the game, and pitched Nashville to a win himself. The directors of

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2756-409: Was severely injured again when a Mobile Swamp Angels player collided with him at second base as he attempted to turn a double play in the third inning. Once again, he had to be removed from the game and was released sometime before May 22. Shorthanded from this injury and with Bradley and Mountjoy temporarily sidelined by illnesses, former Vanderbilt Commodores pitcher Perian Smith was recruited for

2809-436: Was so crowded with patrons who were normally unable to attend games on working days that several hundred were allowed to view the game from the field. Nashville won, 15–12, without incident or police interference. A group of 35 ministers met two days later and resolved to circulate a petition among citizens demanding that the government enforce the law forbidding Sunday baseball. The Davidson County grand jury later indicted

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