Herschel Lynn Greer

Who was Herschel Lynn Greer?

Herschel Lynn Greer was a prominent businessman and the first president of Vols, Inc., an ownership group organized in 1959 for the purpose of keeping the Nashville Vols minor league baseball franchise in Nashville, Tennessee.

Greer worked in the financial sector, co-organizing Guaranty Mortgage Company in 1940. He served as its President and Chairman of the Board until 1969. In January 1959, Greer and thirteen other Nashville businessmen, including country music star Eddy Arnold, formed Vols, Inc. The company sold 4,876 shares of stock at $5 each. Vols, Inc. was successful in keeping the team in Nashville from 1959 to 1961. The Southern Association, of which the Vols were members, collapsed in 1961, and as a result the team did not play in 1962. In 1963 the Vols played one season in the South Atlantic League, which would be their last. The team had a debt of $22,000 that could not be paid, forcing the ownership group to surrender their franchise to the league. This was the last year that professional baseball was played at Sulphur Dell, the home of the Vols.

Greer died in 1976.