Looking Back: All Star Games At Sulphur Dell
This week Major League Baseball will hold its annual all-star game in Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark on Tuesday. The Triple-A All-Star game will be played in Omaha's Werner Park on Wednesday.
Sulphur Dell has been host to several professional baseball all-star games, beginning in the 1940s concerning the Nashville Vols of the Southern Association. That league began playing an All-Star game in 1938. The league leader at a selected date would host a collection of All-Star players from the rest of the league members.
These All-Star games were played in Sulphur Dell:
July 8, 1940: The 1940 Vols were on their way to a Southern Association pennant when they hosted their first all-star game at Sulphur Dell. Led by manager Larry Gilbert the Vols lost that game, 6-1.
A hard rain delayed the start of the game and kept the attendance down to 6,000 fans. Paul Richards was the player-manager of the Atlanta Crackers and belted a solo home run in the second inning to give the All-Stars a 2-0 lead. The clout by Richards was reported in The Tennessean "hit a street car in Jackson Street and rebounded into the park."
The All-Stars blasted 17 hits off of four Nashville pitchers for the easy win. Vols third baseman Bob Boken belted a second inning home run preventing a shutout for the home team. Boots Poffenberger, who would register a record 26 wins for the Vols that season took the loss.
July 9, 1943: This game would find the country at war. Baseball was not interrupted, but affected as the major league rosters were diluted while players became soldiers. In his fifth season at the Vols helm, Gilbert led the Vols to their first All-Star win, 3-2 in front of 9,350 Sulphur Dell fans.
Vols pitcher Glenn Gardner, a 12-game winner at the All-Star break, went the distance. The Southern Stars scored a run in the first inning, but a throwing error in the fifth enabled Nashville to even the score at 1-1. In the Vols sixth frame, back-to-back singles and a wild pitch by the Stars pitcher scored one run. Two walks loaded the bases when Vols second baseman Johnny Mihalic singled to score the eventual game-winner, 3-1. The Stars scored a ninth-inning run for the game's final tally.
July 20, 1948: Gilbert would enter that season as his 10th in Nashville and 25th overall in the Southern Association. In what would be his last season as a manager, Gilbert would enjoy his most memorable All-Star game.
Charley Gilbert, oldest son of the Vols manager, had major league experience since 1940. Charley joined the Vols after his 1947 season and a year with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Vols right-fielder Charlie Workman slugged a two-run fifth inning home run to open the scoring and added a run in the seventh to take a 3-0 lead into the ninth. Ben Wade started the game for the Vols, shutting out the All-Stars through five innings and was relieved by Leo Twardy in the sixth.
The All-Stars would score three runs in the ninth to tie the game 3-3, forcing extra innings. The game remained tied until the bottom of the 12th. Charley Gilbert took his turn at bat and The Tennessean described the game-winner:
"Little Charley Gilbert hit one for the ol' man last night. The Vol center fielder smashed a drive over the right field wall in the last of the 12th inning to give Those Vols a thrilled-packed 4-3 triumph over the All-Stars in the annual league classic before the paying patrons in Sulphur Dell."
July 12, 1949: Rollie Hemsley was now the Nashville manager while more than 11,000 Nashville fans witnessed a game in which 10 All-Star records were broken.
The Vols were embarrassed 18-6, with the Stars scoring nine runs in the ninth to break open the game. Three Nashville pitchers (Frankie Marino, Hal Kleine, Hi Bithorn) surrendered 22 hits.
Dave Williams of Atlanta collected five hits for the winners. Buster Boguskie, Carl Sawatski and Tookie Gilbert (Larry Gilbert's youngest son) were the batting stars for Nashville.
July 8, 1953: The Vols jumped on the Stars in the first inning scoring five runs. The Stars came back in the third inning tallying four runs then Vols first baseman Gail Harris clubbed a fourth inning homer to give Nashville a 6-4 advantage.
The Stars won it in the sixth when they scored three runs on four straight hits and a Vols' error for a 7-6 lead. They added an insurance run in the ninth for an 8-6 final score. Shortstop Bill Gardner collected three hits for the Vols. The game was played before 7, 569 fans.
July 17, 1957: Sulphur Dell was host to 7, 542 fans on a miserable night with nearly a two-hour rain delay between the second and third innings. Nashville lost to the All-Stars, 7-6 when future Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew (Chattanooga) doubled in the ninth inning and scored the tie-breaking run on a single by Jim McManus.
Vols third baseman, Tommy Brown was 3-for-5 scoring two runs and belting a home run over the left-field fence. Nashville skipper Dick Sisler used four pitchers that gave up 16 hits. The All-Stars, which never trailed, used five pitchers allowing Nashville just seven hits on the night.
If you have any comments or suggestions contact Bill Traughber via email [email protected].