Music City Baseball is excited to begin Black History Month, this month-long period of celebration and remembrance, as we continue to showcase the heritage of the Nashville Stars and pursue our goal to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville. In doing so, the Nashville Stars will become the first MLB team named after a Negro Leagues franchise.
Baseball’s history in Nashville is tied to the Black community not only through the Stars namesake, but also because Sulphur Dell, the Stars home ballpark, was located just off of Jefferson Street, the center of the city’s African-American business and cultural districts.
Jefferson Street boasted a number of Black-owned restaurants, stores, and other businesses, as well as three HBCUs nearby: Fisk University, Meharry Medical College, and Tennessee State University, with a fourth, American Baptist Bible College in the area.
Music City Baseball is committed to honoring the legacy of the Stars and working with Black leaders in our community to ensure that bringing MLB to Nashville will involve Black business owners and be a boon to the entire local economy. We have already partnered with the Nashville Black Chamber of Commerce and have enjoyed this relationship immensely.
As the month goes on, we will share a few stories that will celebrate the Negro Leagues heritage in Nashville. We look forward to this period of reflection and commemoration. We also look forward to the bigger celebration when the Stars take the field in Nashville.