page_title: Nashville Seraphs
section_title: April to June
hierarchical_section_title: Nashville Seraphs / History / The season / April to June
caption_attribution_description: English: An illustration of Nashville Seraphs player Mike Trost coaching from the May 2, 1895, edition of The Nashville Banner.
context_page_description: The Nashville Seraphs, often known as the Nashvilles, were a minor league baseball team that played in the Class B Southern League in 1895. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, and played their home games at Athletic Park, later known as Sulphur Dell. The club won the Southern League pennant in their only season, becoming the city's first minor league baseball team to win a league championship.
  The Nashvilles spent the majority of the season at or near the top of the league standings and held an above-.500 winning percentage on all but Opening Day. From August 15 to the season finale on September 3, the Seraphs won 20 consecutive games, which propelled them from seven games out of first place to a tie with the Atlanta Crackers atop the standings. Both teams possessed .670 records and asserted to be the rightful pennant winners. At the league's annual winter meeting that December, nearly four months later, Nashville was declared the Southern League champion for 1895.
  The team was managed by George Stallings and included other former and future major league players Frank Butler, Art Herman, Lefty Marr, Tom McCreery, Sam Moran, Bert Myers, Jim Ritz, and Mike Trost.
context_section_description: With over a month's practice under their belts and optimistic about the campaign to come, the Nashville Seraphs were set to open the Southern League championship season of 1895 at Evansville on April 25. Nashville's Opening Day roster consisted of pitchers Ed Daniels, Art Herman, and Sam Moran; catchers Daniel Sweeney and Mike Trost; first baseman/manager George Stallings; second baseman Henry Smith; third baseman Bert Myers; shortstop Jim Ritz; left fielder Frank Butler; center fielder Jack McCann; and right fielder George Cleve.
  Prior to the season opener, both the Seraphs and their opponents, the Evansville Blackbirds, were paraded in carriages to the ballpark in a procession which included a brass band and a steam calliope. Contested under a light rain, both teams played poorly with only four of the game's 27 runs being earned and committing 12 errors between them, 10 by Nashville. Trost hit two over-the-fence home runs to help the cause of his batterymate Moran, who was hit hard and walked six batters while striking out six. Nashville lost, 17–10. For the benefit of hometown fans, telegraphed descriptions of the game were announced in downtown Nashville at the Merchants' Exchange and the Grand Opera House throughout the season.
  The Seraphs fared much better in their second game on April 27, outscoring the Evansvilles, 19–9. Tied 7–7 after two innings, Stallings substituted Herman for Daniels on the mound to start the third. He allowed only two runs over the remaining seven innings as the Nashvilles scored 12 on the way to their first win. From this point forward, Nashville was a fixture at or near the top of the standings and maintained a winning record through the completion of the season. They wrapped up their opening series by taking the third game from Evansville on April 28, 9–2, in which Moran limited hitters to just two runs on four hits, improving over his first start.
  The Seraphs returned to Nashville for their Athletic Park home opener on April 29. A large crowd gathered early in the day to welcome the teams which arrived to the park in a parade of open carriages accompanied by a marching band. Before the game, Mayor George Blackmore Guild gave a speech and tossed out the first pitch. The home team bested the visiting Evansvilles, 16–4, just as much on good hitting and fielding as on lackluster pitching by Fred Ossenberg. Only two of Nashville's 16 runs were earned; Ossenberg walked 11 batters and the Blackbirds committed five errors.
  Catcher Mike Trost, known for emphatically encouraging his teammates, was named team captain in early May. An otherwise disappointing 2–4 road trip, begun on May 10, ended with Nashville sweeping the Chattanooga Warriors in a doubleheader on May 19. They went on to win the next seven games at Athletic Park through May 28 to make it nine consecutive wins—three against the Montgomery Grays and two each against the Little Rock Travelers and New Orleans Pelicans. The Memphis Giants ended the streak on May 30, and the Nashvilles closed out their first full month of competition tied for first place with Evansville at 19–8 (.703).
  The Seraphs went five-for-five in an early June road trip, taking three games from Little Rock and two from Memphis, giving them sole possession of first place. Looking to keep his team at the top, Stallings released center fielder McCann on June 8. He had not played since June 2 following sporadic appearances after being hit by a pitch in the arm in late May. Stallings also planned to release shortstop Ritz, whose errors the team blamed for at least five losses. Stallings instead signed Patrick Lynch of the Bloomington, Illinois, Western Interstate League team to play short and moved Ritz to center field when Lynch joined the team on June 19. Ritz was later shifted to second, a position which he played much better, after Henry Smith, who exhibited poor fielding range and committed numerous errors on routine plays, was released after the game of June 29.
  Nashville won three games in a single day in a exceedingly rare June 26 tripleheader against Little Roc
caption: A Nashville Banner cartoon of captain Mike Trost coaching his Seraphs teammates
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