Minor League Baseball
In 1978, Schmittou put together a group of investors including country stars Larry Gatlin, Jerry Reed, Conway Twitty, and Richard Sterban (bass singer of the Oak Ridge Boys) in order to purchase a minor league baseball team. He called the team the Nashville Sounds, and built a new ballpark, Herschel Greer Stadium, which held 10,700 fans. The Sounds were a part of the Double-A Southern League and were affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds.
During the first year of play, the Sounds drew in over 380,000 fans, leading the league in attendance. The Sounds would be a major draw for years to come. Their success has been attributed to Schmittou's business philosophy of selling tickets at low prices and making profits from souvenirs, concessions, etc. In recognition of his achievements, he was awarded the Sporting News Double-A and Southern League "Executive of the Year" awards in 1978 and 1981 and the Triple-A Sporting News "Executive of the Year" award in 1989. In 2006 Schmittou was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1985, the Sounds made the jump to become a Triple-A team of the American Association, and in 1998 joined the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. In 1993 and 1994, Schmittou welcomed the Double-A Nashville Xpress to Greer Stadium in Nashville.
He also owned the Dayton Beach Islanders, Greensboro Hornets, Huntsville Stars, Salem Redbirds, Wichita Stars, and Winston-Salem Spirits.
By 1996, Schmittou had sold all of his baseball teams and retired from the professional baseball business.
Read more about this topic: Larry Schmittou
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