Bill Meyer Stadium
Encyclopedia
Bill Meyer Stadium was a baseball
field located in Knoxville
, Tennessee
.
It was named after Billy Meyer
(1892–1957), a Knoxville native who was a catcher
and manager
in Major League Baseball
and a longtime minor league
skipper.
teams, most recently the Knoxville Smokies, an AA Minor League Baseball team. It had a capacity of 6,400 people. The stadium was closed in 1999 after the team moved to a new stadium
near Sevierville
. The stands were demolished, and bleachers with capacity for about 100 people were installed.
The stadium is now used as a venue for amateur baseball games.
league facility. The 100 yard field was striped from the third base side of the diamond, extending out to the right field warning track area. A great majority of the football plays were snapped from the dirt area of the infield. It became the home field for the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) midget (11-12 year-old) football team which held daily practices throughout the fall in the dirt parking area outside the stadium.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
field located in Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
It was named after Billy Meyer
Billy Meyer
William Adam Meyer was an American baseball player and manager. He holds the dubious distinction as having played for, and managed, two of the worst teams in the history of Major League Baseball....
(1892–1957), a Knoxville native who was a catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
and manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
and a longtime minor league
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
skipper.
Baseball Usage
It was used by minor league baseballMinor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
teams, most recently the Knoxville Smokies, an AA Minor League Baseball team. It had a capacity of 6,400 people. The stadium was closed in 1999 after the team moved to a new stadium
Smokies Park
Smokies Park is a baseball stadium located in Kodak, Tennessee, just east of Knoxville and adjacent to the tourist centers of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg. The park, which opened in 2000, has a capacity of 6,412...
near Sevierville
Sevierville, Tennessee
Sevierville is a city in Sevier County, Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. Its population was 11,757 at the 2000 United States Census; in 2004 the estimated population was 14,101. Sevierville is the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee....
. The stands were demolished, and bleachers with capacity for about 100 people were installed.
The stadium is now used as a venue for amateur baseball games.
Football Usage
In the early part of the 1970s, Bill Meyer Stadium, which had sat empty for several years, was converted into a Pop Warner recreational footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
league facility. The 100 yard field was striped from the third base side of the diamond, extending out to the right field warning track area. A great majority of the football plays were snapped from the dirt area of the infield. It became the home field for the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) midget (11-12 year-old) football team which held daily practices throughout the fall in the dirt parking area outside the stadium.
External links
- Bill Meyer Stadium
- Bill Meyer Stadium, Great American BASEBALL TRIPS
- www.ballparkreviews.com/knox/meyer.h
- Bill Meyer Stadium