Then & Now: Where the Yankees played baseball in Nashville

A 19th-century view of where Union Army soldiers played baseball in Nashville. 
(Image from Civil War Trails marker via Tennessee Historical Society)

A present-day view of the site of the Union Army ballfield. Note Tennessee state capitol building 
in background. (CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.)

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The Union Army occupied Nashville from March 1862 until the end of the war. This field was used by the Yankees for baseball games and other recreation. (And, no, I’m not talking the distant cousins of the modern-day team most of us despise.) The game those long-ago Derek Jeters and Mickey Mantles played was far different from today’s sport. The ball was softer, and outfielders and some infielders played without gloves. Home runs were called aces. To my knowledge, no one during the Civil War signed a 12-year, $426.5 million contract. Unsurprisingly, a Civil War Trails marker made me stop dead in my tracks during a morning run. Curses to you, Drew Gruber!

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