The Grandstands

The Grandstands. Baseball. , Athletic Field and Sulphur Dell were built as ballparks for spectators. The original grandstands were constructed in 1885 when Nashville’s first professional team, the Americans, joined the newly formed Southern League. The players faced southwest, toward the state capitol. The field was reversed in 1927. Additions in seating were made in 1908, the same year that Grantland Rice began calling the park “Sulphur Dell”., In 1927, a new grandstand was built. The concrete and steel stadium was reconfigured, and the field reversed. Batters faced northeast so they did not have to deal with sun. Seating capacity reached 7,000. In 1938, it was increased to 8,500 when bleachers were added down the left field line. Third base was only 26 feet from the grandstands, giving spectators a close up view of the field and the players. When Major League teams, like the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Brooklyn Dodgers, played exhibition games against the Nashville teams at Sulphur Dell each spring, fans crowded the stand to get autographs from their favorite players, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner, Cy Young, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, and Hank Aaron. , The first night game was played by the Nashville Tigers in 1894 when the stadium was still known as Athletic Park. Part of a triple-header, the field was illuminated by 54 electric lights in a “grand pyrotechnic display.” The ball itself was covered in phosphorus. An estimated 4,000 spectators attended. Officially, however, May 18, 1931, is credited as the city’s first evening baseball game. From the grandstands at Sulphur Dell, over 7,000 fans watched as Mobile defeated the Nashville Vols 8-1.