List_of_Nashville_Sounds_Opening_Day_starting_pitchers

List of Nashville Sounds Opening Day starting pitchers

List of Nashville Sounds Opening Day starting pitchers

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The Nashville Sounds Minor League Baseball team has played in Nashville, Tennessee, since being established in 1978 as an expansion team of the Double-A Southern League.[3] They moved up to Triple-A in 1985 as members of the American Association before joining the Pacific Coast League in 1998.[3] With the restructuring of the minor leagues in 2021, they were placed in the Triple-A East, which became the International League in 2022.[4][5] The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starting pitcher is an honor which is given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season,[6] though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day.[7] The Sounds have used 43 different Opening Day starters in their 46 seasons.[8]

Bill Dawley was the starting pitcher for the Sounds' inaugural April 15, 1978, opener.
Tom Filer was the Opening Day starter for the Sounds' 1980 season in which the team won a franchise-best 97 games, losing only 46.[1]
Jamie Werly made the first Opening Day start at Nashville's Herschel Greer Stadium in 1981.
Zach Jackson made back-to-back Opening Day starts in 2007 and 2008.
Johnny Hellweg was selected as the Sounds' 2014 Opening Day starter after winning the 2013 PCL Pitcher of the Year Award.[2]
Chris Smith made the first Opening Day start at Nashville's First Tennessee Park in 2016.

Nashville's first Opening Day game was played against the Memphis Chicks at Tim McCarver Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 15, 1978.[9] Bill Dawley was their starting pitcher that day; he took the decision in a game the Sounds lost, 4–2.[9] Their first Opening Day game held at home was an 8–7 win against the Birmingham Barons at Herschel Greer Stadium on April 9, 1981.[8] Starter Jamie Werly, who went on to win the Southern League Most Outstanding Pitcher Award that season,[10] did not figure in the decision.[11] On April 4, 2013, starter Tyler Thornburg took a no decision in the final Opening Day game at Greer Stadium, a 5–4 Sounds win.[8][12] The team left Greer after the 2014 season, but did not play their first Opening Day game at First Horizon Park, their new facility then known as First Tennessee Park, until two years later.[8] In that game, held on April 7, 2016, Sounds starting pitcher Chris Smith was charged with the loss in a 5–0 shutout by the Oklahoma City Dodgers.[13]

Nashville's Opening Day starting pitchers have a combined Opening Day record of 11 wins, 16 losses, and 19 no decisions. At Greer Stadium, they had a record of 5 wins, 4 losses, and 8 no decisions in 17 Opening Day starts. At First Horizon Park, they have 0 wins, 2 losses, and 2 no decisions in 4 Opening Day starts. They have an aggregate record of 5 wins, 6 losses, and 10 no decisions in 21 Opening Day starts at home. Nashville starters have a record of 6 wins, 10 losses, and 9 no decisions in 25 Opening Day starts on the road.

The only Sounds pitchers with more than one Opening Day start are Bill Dawley (1978 and 1979), Rodney Imes (1990 and 1991), and Zach Jackson (2007 and 2008), each with two starts. Three Sounds Opening Day starters have also started Opening Day games in Major League Baseball: Bob Milacki for the Baltimore Orioles in 1990,[14] Wily Peralta for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016,[15] and Chris Bassitt for the Oakland Athletics in 2021.[16]

Pitchers

More information Pitcher (#), Score (#) ...
More information Season, Pitcher ...

Notes

  1. [n 1]
    The April 7, 2005, Opening Day game was called after six innings due to rain.[44]
  2. [n 2]
    The April 9, 2020, Opening Day game was postponed and ultimately cancelled along with the entire season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[58][59]
  3. [n 3]
    The April 1, 2023, Opening Day game was played as part of a seven-inning doubleheader after the originally scheduled March 31 opener was postponed due to severe weather forecast for that evening.[63]

References

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    "Zephyrs 6, Sounds 2". The Tennessean. Nashville. April 10, 1992. p. 8-C. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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    "Bisons 8, Sounds 5". The Tennessean. Nashville. April 5, 1996. p. 5C – via Newspapers.com.
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    "Bisons 4, Sounds 3 (11)". The Tennessean. Nashville. April 5, 1997. p. 5C – via Newspapers.com.
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    "Cubs 7, Sounds 2". The Tennessean. Nashville. April 8, 1998. p. 5C – via Newspapers.com.
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    "Nashville 7, Edmonton 0". The Tennessean. Nashville. April 9, 1999. p. 5C – via Newspapers.com.
  39. [39]
    "Sounds 10, Omaha 5". The Tennessean. Nashville. April 7, 2000. p. 5C – via Newspapers.com.
  40. [40]
    "Redbirds 3, Sounds 2". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis. April 5, 2001. p. D6 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. [41]
    "River Cats 12, Sounds 6". The Tennessean. Nashville. April 6, 2002. p. 5C – via Newspapers.com.
  42. [42]
    "Sounds 5, Cubs 4". The Tennessean. Nashville. April 4, 2003. p. 7C. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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    Patton, Maurice (April 8, 2005). "Sounds LGet Quick Win". The Tennessean. Nashville. p. 1C – via Newspapers.com.
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  46. [46]
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    "Zephyrs vs. Sounds Box Score 04/07/11". Minor League Baseball. April 7, 2011. Archived from the original on April 15, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
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  53. [53]
    "Sounds vs. Storm Chasers Box Score 04/04/14". Minor League Baseball. April 4, 2014. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  54. [54]
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