page_title: Herschel Greer Stadium
section_title: Opening season (1978)
hierarchical_section_title: Herschel Greer Stadium / History / Opening season (1978)
caption_attribution_description: English: A ticket for an April 26, 1978, Nashville Sounds game against the Savannah Braves at Herschel Greer Stadium. This was the inaugural home opener for the Sounds.
context_page_description: Herschel Greer Stadium was a Minor League Baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, approximately two miles south of the city's downtown district. The facility closed at the end of the 2014 baseball season and remained deserted for over four years until its demolition in 2019. Following the completion of the demolition project and an archaeological survey, the land is expected to be reincorporated into Fort Negley Park.
  Greer was opened in 1978 for the Nashville Sounds, an expansion franchise of the Double-A Southern League who moved to the Triple-A American Association in 1985 and to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1998. The stadium played host to the team until 2014. The subject of numerous upgrades and repairs to maintain its functionality, Greer became one of the oldest stadiums used by a Triple-A team and had fallen well below professional baseball's standards for a stadium at that class level by the end of its use.
context_section_description: The scheduled April 25 Greer home opener was rained out and pushed back to the evening of April 26. After playing their first ten games away from home, and with tractors and grading machines still preparing the field on game day, the Sounds played their first home game on April 26, 1978. The 12–4 victory against the Savannah Braves was witnessed by a sellout crowd of 8,156 spectators. Southern League president Billy Hitchcock was on hand to witness the event, and Conway Twitty threw out the first pitch. On the field, Sounds catcher Joe Griffin led the 16-hit Nashville offense with 4 hits and 5 runs batted in (RBI) while starting pitcher Bruce Berenyi got the win and closer Doug Corbett earned a save.
  Though the stadium was opened on time, the late sod was not the only issue on Opening Day. The electricity was turned on only five minutes before the gates opened. Only two women's restrooms and one men's restroom were functioning, though a few portable toilets were also available. The stadium's seats, which had previously been used in Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, arrived just in time for installation. Construction of the backstop was still being completed on Opening Day. Players for both the Sounds and the visiting Braves had concerns about the safety of playing on the quickly installed infield, initially refusing to play on the surface. Left fielders complained about the extra-steep slope in left field that prevented them from seeing home plate. The outfield grass was taken up and the soil regraded to alleviate this problem while the Sounds were away on an eight-day road trip.
  Initially, Greer was capable of seating 7,200 spectators, but was expanded to 8,800 by the end of the inaugural season. Theater-type seats with back support and armrests accounted for 3,000 of the stadium's seats; bleacher seats made up the remainder. The press box included two radio broadcast booths and an organ booth. There were locker rooms for two teams, which each accommodated 25 people, as well as a locker room for umpires. The field measured 330 feet (100 m) down the left and right field lines, 375 feet (114 m) to left- and right-center fields, and 405 feet (123 m) to center field. The home team occupied the third base dugout, and visitors occupied the first base dugout, with each team's bullpen located in foul territory in the outfield corners. Eight lighting grids atop steel poles 100 feet (30 m) high provided illumination for night games. Amenities for customers at the park included two men's and women's restrooms and seven concession stands.
caption: A ticket for the Sounds' first home game at Greer on April 26, 1978, against the Savannah Braves
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