|
The I-40 Cup Series is a minor league baseball rivalry between Tennessee's two Triple-A baseball franchises, the Memphis Redbirds and the Nashville Sounds. The Series was established in 2012 as a season-long, 16-game series between the clubs. Whichever of the two wins the most games played between them is declared the winner and gets to keep the trophy cup until the next season. The losing team donates game tickets to a charity selected by the winner. If the season series is tied following the final game of the season between the two teams, the previous season's winner will remain champion. Though the Series was formally created in 2012, competition between minor league teams from Memphis and Nashville began in 1885, and the Redbirds and Sounds have competed against one another in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) since 1998. ==History== Separated by an approximately stretch of Interstate 40, Memphis and Nashville have fielded several teams which have competed in the same leagues since the late 19th century. The first meeting between Nashville and Memphis teams occurred in 1885 when the Memphis Reds, the city's second professional team, played in the original Southern League against the Nashville Americans, the city's first professional team. In 1886, the Americans competed against the Memphis Grays. The Memphis Browns played against the Nashville Blues in 1887. The Nashville Tigers competed with the Memphis Fever Germs in 1893 and the Memphis Giants in 1894. In 1895, the Giants/Lambs played with the Nashville Seraphs. From 1901 to 1960, the Nashville Vols, originally known as the Nashville Baseball Club from 1901 to 1907, faced competition in the Memphis Egyptians (1901–08), Memphis Turtles (1909–11), and Memphis Chickasaws (1912–60). On September 8, 1906, George Suggs of the visiting Memphis Egyptians pitched an 11-inning no-hitter against the Nashville Baseball Club at Athletic Park. Suggs struck out six batters in the first game of a doubleheader, a 1–0 win. Memphis' George Granger tossed a perfect game against the Vols at Russwood Park on August 25, 1932, in the second game of a doubleheader. He struck out two Vols batters over the course of the seven-inning contest which the Chicks won 1–0.〔 The 1939 Volunteers defeated the Chicks in the Southern Association playoff semi-finals before going on to win the championship. In 1944, they defeated the Chicks to win the championship, 4–3. The 1948 Vols won the Southern Association pennant by three games over the second-place Chicks. Roles were reversed in 1953 when Memphis won the pennant by two games over the Vols. Nashville defeated Memphis in the 1957 championship semi-finals, but was defeated in the finals.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Timeline )〕 During this period, several Negro league teams from the two cities competed in the Negro Southern League. The Memphis Red Sox competed against the Nashville White Sox from 1920 to 1922.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Negro Southern League (1920-1951) )〕 In 1926 and from 1930 to 1932 and 1935 to 1936, the Red Sox faced off against the Nashville Elite Giants.〔 The Nashville Cubs competed with the Memphis Blues in 1947 and the Red Sox in 1950.〔 After 60 continuous years of minor league baseball games being played between Memphis and Nashville, a lapse occurred in the rivalry from 1961 to 1977. Competition resumed when the Nashville Sounds became a part of the Double-A Southern League in 1978. The Sounds played in the West Division against the Memphis Chicks. In 1979, the Chicks won the first half of the season and the Sounds won the second half. In the best-of-three division finals, the Sounds defeated the Chicks in two out of three games before going on to win the Southern League Championship. Memphis and Nashville each won the first and second halves, respectively, of the 1980 season. This time, however, Memphis won the Western Division title, defeating Nashville in three out of four games.〔 The teams met again under the same circumstances in 1981. The Sounds swept the Chicks in three straight games to win the Western Division finals.〔 The interstate rivalry was interrupted again when Nashville moved to the American Association in 1985, but was renewed in 1998 when the Sounds joined the Pacific Coast League and the Memphis Redbirds were created as an expansion team. The Sounds and Redbirds were division rivals in the American Conference East Division from 1998 to 2004,〔 the American Conference North Division from 2005 to 2013, and the American Conference South Division since 2014. On July 15, 2006, Sounds pitchers Carlos Villanueva (6 IP), Mike Meyers (2 IP), and Alec Zumwalt (1 IP) combined to no-hit the Redbirds, 2–0, at Herschel Greer Stadium in Nashville. In 2009, Memphis clinched the American Conference North Division title, finishing the season just two games ahead of Nashville which spent the majority of the season in first place. Similarly, Nashville finished the 2014 season two-and-a-half games behind Memphis after having led the division for most of the season.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「I-40 Cup Series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|