List of Nashville Vols managers

Larry Gilbert led the Vols to win four SA pennants, six SA playoff championships, and three Dixie Series titles from 1939 to 1948.

Newt Fisher guided Nashville to win the first two SA pennants in 1901 and 1902.

John Dobbs, manager of the 1907 Nashville Baseball Club

Bill Bernhard's 1908 Vols won the SA pennant in "The Greatest Game Ever Played in Dixie".

Roy Ellam led the Vols to the 1916 SA pennant.

The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963; they were inactive in 1962 due to declining attendance and the Southern Association (SA) ceasing operations after 1961.^[1][2] Over 62 seasons, the team was led by 26 managers. Managers are responsible for team strategy and leadership on and off the field, including determining the batting order, arranging defensive positioning, and making tactical decisions regarding pitching changes, pinch-hitting, pinch-running, and defensive replacements.^[3] Competing in an era when it was common to have player-managers,^[4] 17 men served as managers concurrent with their on-field playing. Vols managers led the club for 9,015 regular season games in which they compiled a win–loss record of 4,569–4,446 (.507).^[5] Their teams qualified for postseason playoffs on 16 occasions and had a postseason record of 108–74 (.593).^[6]

The Nashville Baseball Club was formed as a charter member of the newly organized Southern Association in 1901.^[7] The team did not receive its official moniker, the Nashville Volunteers, until 1908.^[8] However, the team was, and is, commonly referred to as the Vols. Their last season in the Southern Association was 1961.^[2] After sitting out the 1962 season, Nashville returned for a final campaign as a part of the South Atlantic League in 1963.^[2]

The team won eight regular season pennants,^[9] nine playoff championships,^[10] and four Dixie Series titles behind seven different managers.^[11] Newt Fisher (1901 and 1902), Bill Bernhard (1908), Roy Ellam (1916), and Larry Gilbert (1940, 1943, 1948, and 1949) managed the Vols to win the Southern Association pennant. Gilbert (1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944), Rollie Hemsley (1949), Don Osborn (1950), and Hugh Poland (1953) led the team to win SA playoff championships. Gilbert (1940, 1941, and 1942) and Hemsley (1949) managed Nashville to win the Dixie Series, a best-of-seven playoff series between the champions of the Southern Association and Texas League.

Larry Gilbert won 821 games from 1939 to 1948, placing him first on the all-time wins list for Vols managers. Having managed the team for 1,471 games, 10 full seasons, he was also the longest-tenured manager in team history. The manager with the highest winning percentage over a full season or more was Rollie Hemsley, whose 1949 team had a .625 winning percentage. Conversely, the lowest winning percentage over a season or more is .328 by manager Mickey Finn in 1906.

Table key[]

No.	A running total of the number of Vols managers. Thus, any manager who has two or more separate terms is only counted once.
	Indicates a player-manager

Managers[]

No.	Manager	Season(s)	Regular season				Postseason				Ref(s).
			Games	Wins	Losses	Win %	Appearances	Wins	Losses	Win %
1	Newt Fisher[12]	1901–1904	504	290	214	.575	—	—	—	—	[13]
— 2	Newt Fisher[12] Mickey Finn	1905[n 1]	135	47	88	.346	—	—	—	—	[14]
—	Mickey Finn	1906	137	45	92	.328	—	—	—	—	[15]
3	John Dobbs[16]	1907	137	59	78	.431	—	—	—	—	[17]
4	Bill Bernhard[18]	1908–1910	408	221	187	.542	—	—	—	—	[19]
5	Bill Schwartz[20]	1911–1915	710	350	360	.493	—	—	—	—	[21]
6	Roy Ellam[22]	1916–1920	650	311	339	.478	—	—	—	—	[23]
7 8 9	Hub Perdue[24] Chick Knaupp[25] Larry Doyle	1921[n 2]	152	62	90	.408	—	—	—	—	[26]
—	Larry Doyle[27]	1922	152	56	96	.368	—	—	—	—	[28]
10	Jimmy Hamilton[29]	1923–1927	762	401	361	.526	—	—	—	—	[30]
— 11	Jimmy Hamilton Pants Rowland	1928[n 3]	153	59	94	.386	—	—	—	—	[31]
—	Pants Rowland	1929–1930	306	156	150	.510	—	—	—	—	[32]
12	Joe Klugmann[33]	1931	153	51	102	.333	—	—	—	—	[34]
— 13	Joe Klugmann[33] Chuck Dressen[35]	1932[n 4]	153	75	78	.490	—	—	—	—	[36]
—	Chuck Dressen[35]	1933	146	77	69	.527	—	—	—	—	[37]
— 14	Chuck Dressen Lance Richbourg[38]	1934[n 5]	152	87	65	.572	1	2	3	.400	[39]
15 16	Frank Brazill[40] Johnny Butler	1935[n 6]	151	82	69	.543	1	0	3	.000	[41]
—	Lance Richbourg[38]	1936–1937	304	166	138	.546	1	2	3	.400	[42]
—	Chuck Dressen	1938	150	84	66	.560	1	4	6	.400	[43]
17	Larry Gilbert	1939–1948	1,481	821	660	.554	8	63	33	.656	[44]
18	Rollie Hemsley[45]	1949	152	95	57	.625	1	12	7	.632	[46]
19	Don Osborn[47]	1950–1951	304	164	140	.539	1	11	6	.647	[48]
20	Hugh Poland	1952–1954	460	222	238	.483	1	10	7	.588	[49]
21	Joe Schultz Jr.	1955	151	77	74	.510	—	—	—	—	[50]
22	Ernie White	1956	154	75	79	.487	—	—	—	—	[51]
23	Dick Sisler[52]	1957–1959	454	243	211	.535	1	4	6	.400	[53]
24	Jim Turner	1960	153	71	82	.464	—	—	—	—	[54]
25	Red Robbins[55]	1961	152	69	83	.454	—	—	—	—	[56]
26	John Fitzpatrick	1963	139	53	86	.381	—	—	—	—	[57]
Totals	26 managers	62 seasons	9,015	4,569	4,446	.507	16	108	74	.593	—

Notes[]

References[]

Specific

General

• O'Neal, Bill (1994). The Southern League: Baseball in Dixie, 1885–1994. Eakin Press. ISBN 0-89015-952-1.