Larry Schmittou
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Larry Schmittou (born 1939 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American entrepreneur. He is a former coach of the Vanderbilt University baseball team, owner of the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team, and current owner of S&S Family Entertainment LLC. He also served as the Vice President of Marketing for the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball club from 1983 to 1986. In 2006, he was named a member of the Tennesseee Sports Hall of Fame.
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[edit] Early career
Schmittou was a teacher in the Nashville public school system from 1961-1968. During that time he coached high school basketball and football. He also worked for several years as a territorial scout for the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team.
In 1968, he became the head baseball coach and head football recruiter at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Through 1978, he led his teams to over 300 wins, including four consecutive Eastern Division Championships and the overall SEC baseball championships in 1973 and 1974; both years he was named SEC Coach of the Year.
[edit] 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 which would play their home games at Herschel Greer Stadium which held 10,700 fans. They 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.[1] 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 Schmittu was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame[2].
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.
[edit] S&S Family Entertainment LLC
Today, Schmittou owns S&S Family Entertainment LLC which operates a chain of bowling centers in the Tennessee and Kentucky. It is the seventh largest bowling chain in the world.[3]
[edit] References
- "Nashville Sounds: Team History." Nashville Sounds. August 2, 2007 <http://www.nashvillesounds.com/clubhouse/history.asp>.
- ^ "25 for 25: Stars in the Baseball America Universe." BaseballAmerica.com July 20, 2006. August 2, 2007.
- ^ "Larry Schmittou." Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. 2006. August 2, 2007.
- ^ "25 Emerging Companies." Nashville Post. December 1, 2002. August 2, 2007.
