Skip Nipper’s Nashville Baseball Podcast

In this episode, I tell about a special group of Nashville baseball fans and give special tribute to one of them. In 2003 Oktoberfest in Germantown, I first met Pete Mason who shared a special story that occurred at Sulphur Dell. Pete recently passed away, and I want to honor his memory as a way to express my appreciate his special friendship. I hope you will listen! Want to stay in touch? Find me...

When asked how I feel about MLB coming to Nashville, I do not hesitate to answer, and in this episode you will hear me tell what my stance is. Controversial? No, not when many share the same feelings I do. Taking a stand, having an opinion, and making a stance are necessary to hold true to one’s feelings. I hope you will listen to mine! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: X: mrsulphurdell Instagr...

i hope you enjoyed hearing Mark Aubrey in Part One, because we continue talking about Knoxville baseball, the Negro Southern League, and University of Tennessee baseball in Part Two! Mark has researching skills like few others, and you can learn more by visiting his websites  http://oldknoxvillebaseball.blogspot.com/ and  https://bbsas.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Want to stay in touch? Find me he...

Mark Aubrey is a distinguished Negro Leagues researcher from Seymour, Tennessee, near Knoxville. His focus has been on the 1920 Negro Southern League and the history of the Knoxville Giants. You will enjoy listening to Mark and his passion for research - and his penchant for sharing his findings. Just wait for Part Two, when we go deeper into Mark’s passion for research, and even talk about Univer...

Listen to this episode with TrapperHaskins as he tells about the influence of his father and family, and how he became one of the founders of the Tennessee Vintage Base Ball Association. Trapper is a passionate author, musician, carpenter, and vintage ballistic, and you will enjoy hearing his story! Thanks for listening! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: X: mrsulphurdell Instagram: @ nashville_...

In 2000, Trapper Haskins moved to Maine with his wife, Mandy, where he undertook a two-year apprenticeship learning traditional wooden boatbuilding in Rockland. Once finished, they took the rowboat they built, Oxbow, 2,300 miles down the Mississippi River. Haskins wrote about the experience in a memoir titled Crooked Old River, released in 2024. A lover of vintage things, he was a founder of the T...

In Part Two of our talk, author Keith Wood continues discussing the Memphis Red Sox with me. His work brings out the financially-stable Martin brothers, the location of Martin Park, and how politics shaped Negro League baseball in Memphis. I hope you will listen as Keith takes us through a time of both turmoil and stability but also gives us a glimpse of how things were when pride in the local Bla...

Keith Wood landed a position in the Memphis City School District at Sheffield High after college. He moved to Millington Central High School in northwest Shelby County while completing his master's in history at the University of Memphis. Currently teaching at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, that role allowed returning to grad school and completing a history doctorate. When he bega...

In 1949, Bob Borkowski batted .376 in 138 games with the Nashville Vols to win the Double-A Southern Association batting title. On July 23, teammate Carl Sawatski was leading the team in batting with a .379 average, with Babe Barna hitting at a .371 clip to for second place for the Vols. Borkowski was third with a .365 average, but at season’s end, had passed both Barna and Sawatski in capturing t...

We were fortunate to have New York Yankees great Don Mattingly as our guest speaker on January 19. Like Harmon Killebrew many years ago, he was a terrific guest speaker. The only difference was that Killebrew stood behind a podium and delivered an eloquent speech, and Mattingly preferred a Q&A interview style. And, as luck would have it, I was asked by our president, Tony Rankin, someone I res...

The results are in! This project began in September when I asked for votes for favorite players who wore a Nashville Vols uniform beginning in 1950 until thnn team closed up shop after the 1963 season. In this episode you will learn the choices made by you, the fans of Nashville baseball! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: X: mrsulphurdell Instagram: @ nashville_baseball Facebook: Skip Nipper Em...

You are in for a treat in this episode, as Bob Hale and I talk about the possibilities for future Major League Baseball expansion plans. Bob is the administrator for a fantastic Facebook group, “MLB Expansion” which can be found here:  https://tinyurl.com/mrywrjv2 . The group has close to 10,000 members, and I am glad to be one of them. Our discussion includes Nashville and other great cities that...

With 2024 ending, I want to review the Top 10 episodes you listened to from my baseball history podcasts during the year. First of all, thank you, especially for those who made a comment or maybe listened more than once. I cannot thank you enough - more to come in 2025. Happy New Year! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: X: mrsulphurdell Instagram: @ nashville_baseball Facebook: Skip Nipper Email...

As best as I can tell, 92 former major league players passed away in 2024, and there are some great names among them, such as Mike Cubbage, Billy Gardner (who played for the Nashville Vols in 1953), Rico Carty, Ed Ott, and Don Wert among them.  But quite literally, an All-Star team could be built around some of these names. In this episode, I call out some of the greats who passed away during the...

You may already know this, but "Donnie Baseball", the "Hit Man", is returning to Nashville for a special night in January. He will be the featured guest at the 87th Annual Old Timers banquet to be held on Sunday evening, January 19th, at the Sheraton Music City Nashville Airport. He will join a long list of notable basball players, coaches, scouts, and dignitaries who were hono...

My book was a labor of love for more than one reason. Dedicated to my father, Virgil Nipper, and supported in a special way by my mother, Dorothy, in this episode I talk about how the concept began and the encouragement I received to bring it to fruition! If you wish to purchase a copy:  https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/9780738543918/?queryID=416187572763b4f03044372473e88094&objectID...

Word has come of the passing of one of Nashville’s best all-time pitchers, Bob Kelly. His obituary begins by saying, “Bob went to the diamond in the sky on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, at the age of 97.” Kelly was a dynamic pitcher with the Nashville Vols during two seasons before his career ended in 1958. Kelly led the Southern Association in losses and hits allowed (289) in 1956, but also in ga...

With the possibility of major league baseball coming to Music City, it begs the question: “where would a team play?” A better question is, who’s going to build it? In this episode, I compare special ballparks built in Nashville while looking forward to the next one! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: X: mrsulphurdell Instagram: @ nashville_baseball Facebook: Skip Nipper Email me: 262downright@gm...

Let me tell you about someone from Nashville, a professional player, a pitcher, and a pretty good one, too. Frank George Hahn pitched for Cincinnati between 1899-1905, and the New York Highlanders in 1906. He pitched in 243 games, made 231 starts, had 212 complete games and pitched 25 shutouts. And he was called “Noodles.” He was born on April 29, 1879, in, can you guess where? Nashville, Tennesse...

I have been curious about why Tom Wilson moved his ballclub when he did. First, to Cleveland in 1931 (renaming them the Cubs), then back to Nashville that same year, then to Columbus and Detroit and back to Nashville in 1935, Washington, D.C. in 1936 and 1937, before settling in Baltimore beginning in 1938. In this episode, I refer to Bob Luke's excellent book The Baltimore Elite Giants (2009...

There are many side stories with a Nashville baseball connection. In this episodes, learn about how Boston, Nashville, and Cleveland were connected by a major league team owner who had his eye on a successful minor league manager he wanted to become his manager. Had he achieved his objective, the Nashville Vols’ baseball trajectory might have not been one of Southern Association championships - no...

Every once in a while, I am invited to speak to a civic group or in a school classroom about Sulphur Dell and Nashville’s excellent baseball history, including Negro Leagues baseball. When my friends at the Nashville Stars office allowed me an opportunity to speak to kids, I immediately said, “Yes!” Two fourth-grade teachers, Ms. Plemon and Mr. Field at King’s Academy taught their students about M...

In January of 1969, Herschel Greer, vice-president of Vols, Inc., the stock corporation that owned the now-defunct Nashville Vols and the property known as Sulphur Dell, announced the ownership group approved a sale to Frederic Gregg, Jr. Gregg was a financier and owner of Lin Broadcasting Group. According to Greer, Gregg paid $255,000 for the land. On Wednesday, April 17, about 35 people gathered...

Many Hall of Famers appeared in Nashville at Sulphur Dell or Tom Wilson Park, either in a regular season game, exhibition game, barnstorming game, or as a manager of one of the ball clubs. In this episode, let me take you to 1905 during a five-day period when five Hall of Famers appeared here. You might be surprised at one of them! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: X: mrsulphurdell Instagram: @...

An African American a cappella ensemble consisting of students at Fisk University organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. The Fisk Jubilee Singers became famous worldwide. In 1882, a baseball team was formed to become the Fisk University B. B. C. (Base Ball Club), playing other Black college and independent teams. In this episode, learn about the part Fisk Jubilee Hall played in the...