The Nashville Americans were a 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...

 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...

 from 1885 to 1886. The team was one of eight charter members of the newly formed league. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee

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...

 and played home games at Athletic Park

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...

, which was opened in 1885. The Americans were Nashville's first professional baseball team.

1885

Beginning play in 1885, the Nashville Americans were a charter member of the newly formed 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...

. The 8-team circuit also included the Atlanta Atlantans, Augusta Browns, Chattanooga Lookouts

Chattanooga Lookouts

The Chattanooga Lookouts are a minor league baseball team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. They are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team, which plays in the Southern League, has been a Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club since the 2009 season. The Lookouts...

, Columbus Stars, Memphis Browns, and teams from Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

 and Macon

Macon, Georgia

Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...

. The Americans played their home games at Athletic Park

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...

, which would later come to be known as 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...

. With a distance of 262 feet (79.9 m) to the right field wall, it was a notorious hitter's park.

Prior to the inaugural season, Nashville hosted the Chicago White Stockings

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 for spring training

Spring training

In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...

. Chicago competed in exhibition games against the Americans, local semi-pro clubs, and the Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 team.

The Americans also played a series of exhibition games against teams in other minor leagues in preparation for the start of the season. On March 30, Nashville began the exhibition series on the road with a 4–8 loss to the Indianapolis Hoosiers

Indianapolis Hoosiers (minor league baseball)

At least three different teams in minor league baseball have borne the name Indianapolis Hoosiers.-Western League Hoosiers I:The first Western League, which lasted only part of the season, included an Indianapolis Hoosiers team....

 of the Western League

Western League (defunct minor league)

The Western League is a name given to several circuits in American minor league baseball. Its earliest progenitor, which existed from 1885 to 1899, was the predecessor of the American League...

. The following day, the Hoosiers repeated with a 12–4 win. On April 1–2, Nashville faced off against the Cleveland Forest Citys

Cleveland Forest Citys

The Forest Citys were a short lived professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio in the early 1870s. The actual name of the team, as shown in standings, was Forest City, not "Cleveland". The name "Forest Citys" was used in the same generic style of the day in which the team from Chicago,...

, also of the Western League. The Americans won the first game 15–17 and the second 3–2.

Nashville's opening day roster consisted of pitcher Alexander Voss, catcher Tony Hellman, first baseman Leonard Sowders, second baseman John Cullen, shortstop Joe Werrick

Joe Werrick

Joseph Abraham Werrick was a professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for four seasons in the 19th century.Werrick made his professional debut in for the Winona Clippers of the minor Northwestern League. Partway through the season, he moved on to that league's St....

, third baseman James Hillery, right fielder/player-manager Will Bryan, center fielder Diestel, and left fielder Rhue.

The Americans played their first regular season home game, after a long road trip, on May 4 against Columbus. Sowders led off the first inning by reaching first base on an error

Error (baseball)

In baseball statistics, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases, when such an advance would have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder.The term ...

. Batting second was Hillery who scored the team's first hit

Hit (baseball)

In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

. Cullen also reached base on an error. Werrick later stepped up to the plate hitting a triple

Triple (baseball)

In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

, scoring Hillery and Cullen. Those would be Nashville's only run

Run (baseball)

In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

s of the game, a 2–3 loss in front of the home crowd.

During a road trip to Atlanta, on August 14, the Americans and the Atlantans were involved in a death as the result of rough play on the field. Atlanta's first baseman, Louis Henke, hit the ball and ran for first base. He collided with Nashville’s first baseman, Charles Marr, with such force that Henke fell to the ground. He then stood up, staggered, and fell again. Henke was taken to a local hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a ruptured liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

, an injury which would cause his death later that evening. To support his widow, the Southern League played benefit games in each city that fielded a team that season.

Nashville finished their first season of play in fifth-place with a 55–37 record. Americans first baseman Leonard Sowders was the league’s first batting champion with a .309 batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

.

1886

The Americans returned to play their final season in 1886. That year's incarnation of the Southern League included the new Charleston Seagulls, Memphis Grays, and a team from Savannah

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...

, as well as the returning Atlanta, Augusta, Chattanooga, and Macon franchises.

On March 18, Nashville put together an 8–0 shutout

Shutout

In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....

 against Memphis. Approximately one week later, on March 23, the team defeated the American Association

American Association (19th century)

The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...

's Pittsburgh Alleghenys by a score of 13–6 in an exhibition game. Infielder Charles Marr went 4-for-4 at the plate and participated in two double play

Double play

In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....

s.

The team's final game was held on September 4. The contest against Savannah resulted in a 10–9 Nashville loss. They ended the season with a 46–43 record, putting them in third place. This was the last season that the Americans were fielded as a team. In 1886, the franchise was replaced by the Nashville Blues

Nashville Blues

The Nashville Blues were a minor league baseball team of the Southern League in 1887. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee and played home games at Athletic Park, which was opened in 1885. Preceded by the Nashville Americans, the Blues were Nashville's second professional baseball team...

.

Season-by-season results

Nashville Americans
Year	Record	Win %	Finish
1885	55–37	.598	5th
1886	46–43	.456	3rd
Totals	101–80	.558	—