Nashville Outlaws

Team history

Baseball's origins in Nashville, Tennessee, have been traced back to as far as 1860. In 1885, the Nashville Americans became the city's first professional baseball team as a charter member of the Southern League. Since then, Nashville has been represented by the minor league Blues, Tigers, Seraphs, Centennials, Vols, Sounds, and Xpress minor league teams. The Vanderbilt Commodores were the city's first collegiate baseball team, beginning play in 1886. Belmont University, Lipscomb University, and Trevecca Nazarene University also operate collegiate programs in the city. The Nashville Outlaws were created in 2010 as an expansion team of the collegiate summer baseball Prospect League. The franchise was founded by three former Nashville Sounds executives: Brandon Vonderharr, Jason Bennett, and Chris Snyder. The Outlaws are named for the city's association with country music, particularly the outlaw country genre which was popular during the late 1960s and 1970s.

The Outlaws played their first game, a 10 to 3 loss, against the Terre Haute Rex on the road at Sycamore Stadium in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 4, 2010. After three more games on the road, the Outlaws played their first home game at Vanderbilt University's Hawkins Field on June 8. The home team defeated the Springfield Sliders by a score of 4 to 2. At the end of the first half of the season, the Outlaws were in third place in the Central Division with a 14–14 record. Three Nashville players were selected to play on the East Team in the 2010 Prospect League All-Star Game: pitchers Matt Fitton and Navery Moore and catcher Doug Joyce. The game was played to a 9-inning 3–3 tie.

Going into the next-to-last night of the season and scheduled for a doubleheader against Terre Haute, the Outlaws were tied with that team for first in the division. Nashville won both games and clinched the second-half pennant. The Outlaws finished the second half in first place with a record of 16 wins and 10 losses. They completed the season with an overall record of 30–24 (.556), good for second place in the division and fourth in the league. More importantly, their second-half win earned the team a spot in the league championship playoffs. However, Nashville was defeated by the Danville Dans in the first round, 4–2, eliminating them from the playoffs.

Four Nashville players were awarded accolades for their performance during the Outlaws' inaugural season. First baseman Kevin Smith was named to the Prospect League's First Team All-Star Team. Third baseman Greg Bachman, shortstop Sam Dove, and left-handed relief pitcher Matt Fitton were named to the Second Team All-Star Team.

For the 2011 season, the Outlaws had a new home, Lipscomb University's Ken Dugan Field at Stephen Lee Marsh Stadium, as well as new management in the form of general manager Luke Collier, and three new members of management: Jared Swantner, Charlyn Ursell, and Adam Boone. The team folded after the 2011 season.

Alumni

The only former Outlaws player to have also played in Major League Baseball is pitcher Shae Simmons who played for the Atlanta Braves in 2014.