Nashville Sounds

The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team from Nashville, Tennessee. They play baseball at the Triple-A (AAA) level, the most difficult level before Major League Baseball, against other baseball teams in the International League (a group of 20 baseball teams at the same level). The Sounds are partnered with the Milwaukee Brewers, a Major League Baseball team. When a player shows that he plays well at this level, he may be moved up to play for the Brewers.
The team is named "Sounds" because Nashville, the city where the team plays, is famous for making country music.
The Sounds played at a stadium called Herschel Greer Stadium from 1978 to 2014. In 2015, the Sounds began to play at a new stadium called First Horizon Park.
History
The Sounds started playing baseball in 1978 in the Southern League, which is at the Double-A (AA) level, two levels before Major League Baseball. They were partnered with the Cincinnati Reds (1978-1979) and New York Yankees (1980-1984). The Sounds won the championship of the Southern League in 1979 and 1982.
In 1985, the Sounds began to play at the Triple-A level in a league called the American Association. While playing in this league, they were partnered with the Detroit Tigers (1985-1986), Cincinnati Reds (1987-1992), and Chicago White Sox (1993-1997).
The American Association ended after the 1997 season, so the Sounds started playing in the Pacific Coast League in 1998. They were partners with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1998-2004), Milwaukee Brewers (2005-2014), Oakland Athletics (2015-2018), and Texas Rangers (2019-2020). The Sounds won the championship of the Pacific Coast League in 2005.
Major League Baseball reorganized Minor League Baseball before the 2021 season. The Pacific Coast League was ended, and the Sounds began playing in the Triple-A East in 2021. They also became partners with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Triple-A East had its name changed to the International League in 2022.
Ballparks
The Sounds' first ballpark was Herschel Greer Stadium. They played baseball games there from 1978 to 2014. There were many changes to the ballpark after it was completed in 1978. It had seats for 10,300 spectators. Its best known feature was its giant 115.6 foot (35.2 m) scoreboard which was behind the left field wall and shaped like a guitar. After the construction of new and luxurious minor league ballparks in the 1990s, Greer had fallen below standards set for Triple-A stadiums by professional baseball. Therefore, there were several repairs and upgrades made to meet Triple-A standards until a new stadium could be built. Greer Stadium was demolished in 2019.
In 2014, the Sounds and the city of Nashville agreed on a plan to build a new baseball stadium for the team. The Sounds began playing baseball at the new stadium, called First Horizon Park, in 2015. It has space for 10,000 spectators. There are 8,500 seats, and there is a spot of grass where 1,500 others can sit. It also has a guitar-shaped scoreboard.
References
Other websites
The team's website
The team's statistics from Baseball-Reference
1970s establishments in Tennessee
Baseball teams in the United States
Milwaukee Brewers
Sports in Nashville, Tennessee