Skip Nipper’s Nashville Baseball Podcast

Hugh Hill was born on July 21, 1879, in Ringgold, Georgia, and signed with Newt Fisher’s 1901 Nashville baseball club in the inaugural season of the Southern Association. As a pitcher, he won six games while losing five, playing in 51 games because he was also an outfielder. The ball club won the pennant that season, and when 1902 rolled around, Fisher had Hill on his ball club for another year. A...

Today, April 1st, marks a day of notoriety all its own. I have heard of pranks on April Fool’s Day that run the gamut, and if you have had fun with it, been the butt of a joke, or if you have made a family member mad, it is a fun day in most cases. Unless it is taken to an extreme, which I do not forgive. Some are funny. Others? Not so much. Baseball has a history on April 1, too, from games to pl...

It was going to be the trip of a lifetime, and boy, was I excited about it. For most of my life, I had dreamed of visiting Cooperstown, and finally, it was going to happen. In this episode, I tell about a special visit that rivals two spring training trips, MLB World Series and All-Star games, and the birth of all four of my children. Well, maybe not the last part. But it I will cherish my first v...

Tennessean sports editor Dave Ammenheuser coordinated a spring training trip in 2016, and I tagged along with high school teammate Bart Leathers and everyone’s “Mr. Nashville Baseball”, Farrell Owens (both deceased).  Dave has moved on to various assignments, but eight years later, here we are to talk about that great six-games-in-five days “immaculate visitation!” It was a remarkable time with fr...

Betty-Jane Taylor and I have known each other through her husband Larry, who not only played for the Nashville Vols, but was basketball and baseball coach at Berry College in Rome, Georgia. Larry passed away not quite two years ago, on April 21, 2022, at the age of 91. He was a good baseball friend and loyal member of the Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association. International Women’s Day was cel...

Tony Rankin loves the game of baseball as much as anybody, both as an autograph collector and with a passion for its purpose. A clinical therapist, speaker, and author, in this Skip’s Corner episode Tony explains how we like to remember things that take us back to a fun place in life that we don’t necessarily  have today when he says: “Baseball is the commonality a lot of people have that brings a...

As we bring Black History Month to an end, I want you to know about a special player with a special talent. Ray Dandridge never had the chance to play in the majors, but the record shows he was clearly one of the greatest third basemen of all time. And, he had a brief connection to Nashville baseball. Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987, Dandridge had glory on the field from his...

If you have never been to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, it is worth a few hours of your time. It honors athletes, teams, coaches, sportswriters, and sports executives for their contributions to sports in our state. In celebraton of Black History Month, it is important to highlight inductees who played Negro Leagues baseball, and to call attention to those who have been omitted. Maybe they do...

Clinton “Butch” McCord was destined to be one of baseball’s greatest players. The color of one’s skin was a factor in many baseball careers throughout the United States, and Butch ran into many roadblocks along the way, too. But never did he let them get him down. I have spoken about Butch many times, but never have I made him the subject of an entire podcast episode. Today, I am going to right th...

Michael Thurmon was one of the organizers of the Tennessee Vintage Base Ball Association. His love for history led him to study early base ball, as it was played in the middle of the 19th Century. Today, he has taken his love for The Game to coach a team of youngsters who he teaches baseball skills, but he goes a step further, too: He teaches him about the history of the National Pastime, includin...

You are really going to enjoy this Nashville Baseball History podcast episode. Joey Hale, who coached the Southeast regional team from Goodlettsville to the 2012 Little League United States Championship, is my guest. He describes the journey to Williamsport and tells about each player. His passion for baseball and teaching youngsters the game is evident, too. It does not end with the 2012 team, ei...

Nashville’s reading public who relied on the written word from the newspapers, the morning Nashville Tennessean and evening Nashville Banner (the Banner is long gone and the Tennessean is no longer the up-to-date version, through no fault of its own) knew they could trust the writers to deliver the best coverage, the best detailed account of a game or situation, and do it in a sensible way to earn...

When the Nashville Baseball Club needed a manager to bring the team out of the Southern Association cellar, Bill Bernhard was just the man to do it. With nine seasons of major league experience, and nearly Cleveland's big league manager, Bernhard immediately made an impact. The man known for his genteel demeanor, he learned his craft from Hall of Fame manager Connie Mack and Cleveland manager...

Dick Sisler came from a baseball family. His father, George, was a two-time batting champion and a career .340 hitter and was named to the inaugural class of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. His brother, Dave Sisler, pitched in the major leagues for Boston, Detroit, Washington, and Cincinnati, and his brother, George, Jr., was president of the International League between 1966 and 1976...

A few years ago I selected the Top 10 Most Influential People in Nashville Baseball History with the emphasis on "influential." That list  was limited in that regard, but I have a dream to produce a Baseball in Nashville Hall of Fame by taking nominations from others. That list could be honed down to a select few for induction in 2024, with more added each year. I have not determined the...

Guy Lefty and Christine lived only a few blocks from Sulphur Dell, where he played baseball for the Nashville Vols for 20 years. He found it hard to continue their holiday traditions when she passed away, but during one visit to the old ballpark, a surprise was in store. Listen to this fictional account of a beloved ballplayer and a Christmas Day surprise. Merry Christmas! Want to stay in touch? F...

During the 61-year existence of the Southern Association, only three players hit for an average over .400, and all three played for the Nashville Vols. In all, 18 players who led the league wore a Vols uniform, and in this episode I name each one. Insight into the controversy of Hugh Hill's .416 batting average in 1902 is explained, too, and I hope you will listen! Want to stay in touch? Find...

David Lindsey's father, Eldon "Toby" Lindsey, was a minor league pitcher and played parts of two seasons for the Nashville Vols with six seaons in the minors before serving in the military. His influence on David and his brothers Gerry, Jimmy, and Danny, all excellent players in their own right, went a long way in  each one finding a special place in sports. In this episode, David a...

Here in Music City, the name goes with the territory. In 1925, the establishment of radio station WSM and its launch of the broadcast that would be called the Grand Ole Opry further secured Nashville's reputation as a musical center and sparked its durable nickname of Music City. Ballparks, football and soccer stadiums, and just about every other sports venue has added concerts to add to the...

I have an unpublished personal “Circle of Honor,” which includes family members, teammates,  acquaintances, and friends, a unique list of many who have been meaningful to me in my life. One of them is Rick Brewer, who passed away a few days ago, and I could do no less than let listeners know how much he meant to me and hundreds of others. He was a giant of a man - not in stature, certainly - but t...

Nearly 40 years before becoming “Sulphur Dell”, the low-lying area north of Nashville’s downtown was called Sulphur Spring Bottom. It had a natural salt lick and sulphur spring, and many years before the city was founded, the area teemed with wildlife, especially buffalo and deer who came to lick the mineral salt. It was there baseball found its home, evacuated 100 years later, and then reclaimed...

Ty Cobb, Christie Mathewson, Ted Williams, Monte Irvin, and Yogi Berra are just a few baseball Hall of Famers who served in the military, often putting off or leaving their careers to sign up. George Archie, Johnny Beazley, Charlie Gilbert, Russ Meers, and Hoyt Wilhelm were a few lesser known ballplayers with a Nashville connection who served in the U. S. Armed Forces. In this episode, I tell abou...

With Daylight Savings Time ending, we gain the one hour we gave up in March and are now on Standard Time. Years ago, there was a change in time as ordered by Congress and I often wonder how the fans took to the change in time, and how it affected attendance to baseball games in years gone by. In this episode I tell about the early days when there were no lights at Sulphur Dell, games often began i...

The impact of television on baseball attendance was never more thoroughly demonstrated than the night of the Joe Walcott-Ezzard Charles championship boxing match, June 5, 1950, when clubs generally reported low gates as fans remained home to view the title bout. Television was a new dynamic in homes across the nation, and baseball games began its slow decline in the Minor Leagues. In this episode...

After attending Nashville's Pearl High School, Wilbur "Yank" Adkisson spent three years in the Army during World War II, where he played baseball with some of the greats: Joe DiMaggio, Enos Slaughter, Josh Gibson, Roy Campanella, Satchel Paige, and Jackie Robinson. He became a Negro Leagues star with the Nashville Cubs, where he was known as a power hitting All-Star, and developed a...