Herschel Lynn Greer was a prominent businessman

Businessperson

A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...

 and the first president of Vols Inc., an ownership group organized in 1959 for the purpose of keeping the Nashville Vols

Nashville Vols

The Nashville Vols were a minor league baseball team based in Nashville, Tennessee from 1901 to 1963; the team was inactive in 1962. Known as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they were officially named the Nashville Volunteers in 1908 for the state's nickname, The...

 minor league baseball

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...

 franchise in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, 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...

.

Greer worked in the financial sector, co-organizing Guaranty Mortgage Company in 1940. He served as its President and Chairman of the Board until 1969. In January 1959, Greer and thirteen other Nashville businessmen, including country music star Eddy Arnold

Eddy Arnold

Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...

, formed Vols Inc. The company sold 4,876 shares of stock at $

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

5 each. Vols Inc. was successful in keeping the team in Nashville from 1959 to 1961. The Southern Association

Southern Association

The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A , Class A1 and Class AA...

, of which the Vols were members, collapsed in 1961, and as a result the team did not play in 1962. In 1963 the Vols played one season in the South Atlantic League

South Atlantic League

The South Atlantic League is a minor league baseball league based chiefly in the Southeastern United States, with the exception of three teams in the Mid-Atlantic States...

, which would be their last. The team had a debt of $22,000 that could not be paid, forcing the ownership group to surrender their franchise to the league. This was the last year that professional baseball was played at Sulphur Dell

Sulphur Dell

Sulphur Dell is a former minor league baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee. It was used for baseball for nearly 100 years, from to . From to , it was the home of the Nashville Vols minor league team...

, the home of the Vols.

Greer died in 1976. Two years later, in 1978, Larry Schmittou

Larry Schmittou

Larry Schmittou is an American entrepreneur. He currently owns a S&S Family Entertainment LLC, which operates a chain of bowling centers. He is a former coach of the Vanderbilt University baseball team. From the late 1970s to the mid 1990s, he was the owner of several minor league baseball teams...

 brought the Nashville Sounds

Nashville Sounds

The Nashville Sounds are a minor league baseball team of the Pacific Coast League , and the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the city's association with the music industry...

, an expansion team of the Southern League

Southern League (baseball)

The Southern League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Southern United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The original league was formed in , and shut down in . A new league, the Southern Association, was formed in , consisting of twelve teams...

, to Nashville. The Greer family donated $25,000 for construction of the team's new stadium. The new ballpark was named "Herschel Greer Stadium

Herschel Greer Stadium

Herschel Greer Stadium is a minor league baseball park located in Nashville, Tennessee, on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, approximately two miles south of downtown...

" in his honor.