List of Nashville Vols awards, All-Stars, and league leaders

A man in a light baseball jersey and dark cap with an "NY" on the center
Bob Lennon led the Southern Association in five major statistical categories, set its all-time home run record, was named to the league All-Star team, and won the circuit's MVP Award in 1954.

The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963.[1] They were established as charter members of the Southern Association in 1901.[2] Known as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they became the Nashville Volunteers (regularly shortened to Vols) in 1908.[3] Nashville remained in the Southern Association until the circuit disbanded after the 1961 season.[2] The team sat out the 1962 campaign but returned for a final season in the South Atlantic League in 1963 before ceasing operations altogether.[1] Over 62 seasons, numerous players, managers, and coaches won awards, were selected for All-Star teams, or led their league in various statistical areas.

Eight Vols won the Southern Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, more than any other team in the league.[4] These were: Greek George, Ed Sauer, Chuck Workman, Carl Sawatski, Bob Schultz, Jack Harshman, Bob Lennon, and Stan Palys. The only Vol to win the Rookie of the Year Award was Jim O'Toole. Eighty-seven players and four managers and coaches were selected for midseason All-Star teams. Of these, 14 were selected twice with Nashville: Buddy Gilbert, Larry Gilbert, Oris Hockett, Bob Kelly, Pete Mallory, Rube Novotney, Hugh Poland, Hal Quick, Carl Sawatski, Phil Shartzer, Jim Shilling, Dick Sisler, Leo Twardy, and Ben Wade. Two players were chosen as the MVP for their contributions in All-Star games: Tommy Brown and Chuck Coles. Additionally, the Vols served as the competition for the Southern Association All-Stars on six occasions in games held at Nashville's Sulphur Dell.

Five players hold Southern Association records for single-season performances in major statistical categories. Les Fleming holds the batting average record (.414 in 1941), Charlie Gilbert the runs record (178 in 1948), Jim Poole the runs batted in (RBI) record (167 in 1930), Joe Dwyer the doubles record (65 in 1936), and Bob Lennon the home run record (64 in 1954). Lennon led the league in five major categories in 1954: batting average (.345), hits (210), runs (139), RBI (161), and home runs (64). Charlie English led the circuit in four areas in 1942: batting average (.341), hits (217), RBI (139), and doubles (50). Ed Sauer led the league in four categories in 1943: batting average (.368), runs (113), doubles (51), and stolen bases (30).

  1. ^ a b "Nashville, Tennessee Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Weiss, Bill; Wright, Marshall (2001). "47. 1940 Nashville Vols". Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on October 12, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  3. ^ "'Volunteers' is the New Name for Nashville's Baseball Club". The Nashville American. Nashville. February 29, 1908. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Palys Eighth Vol to Get Southern's MVP Accolade". The Nashville Banner. Nashville. January 23, 1958. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.