Larry Schmittou

He was named for Larry Gilbert, manager of the Nashville Vols Minor League Baseball team from 1939 to 1948.

Schmittou was the youngest of five children.

When he was a junior in high school, Schmittou began coaching youth baseball teams for 9 to 12-year-old children.

Concurrently, he pitched on the Cohn High School baseball team.

After graduating, he enrolled at Peabody College, which is known for its teacher education program.

He continued to coach three youth baseball teams and play in a city league while attending Peabody.

By the end of his sandlot coaching career, Schmittou had over 500 wins, 20 city championships, 8 state championships, and 6 of his teams went to national tournaments.

Larry Schmittou (born July 19, 1940) is an American entrepreneur and former baseball executive and coach.

He owns S&S Family Entertainment LLC, which operates a chain of bowling centers in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana.

Larry Schmittou was born on July 19, 1940, in Nashville, Tennessee, to parents Egbert and Jane Ann.

Schmittou taught in the Nashville public school system from 1961 to 1968.

He was originally hired and assigned to teach at Haywood Elementary, but not wanting to teach at an elementary school without athletic programs, Schmittou instead accepted an offer to become the head coach of the football, basketball, and track teams at Bailey Junior High.

He remained at Bailey for three years before being hired as the head basketball coach at Goodlettsville High School.

Two-and-a-half years later, Schmittou left high school coaching for good.

During this time, he had also worked for several years as a territorial scout for the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team.

From 1968 to 1978, Schmittou was the head coach of Vanderbilt University's baseball team, the Vanderbilt Commodores.

In 1968, Schmittou became the head baseball coach and head football recruiter at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Through 11 years of coaching (1968–1978), Schmittou led his teams to a 306–252–1 (.548) overall record and a 98–98 (.500) SEC record.

From 1971 to 1974, he led the Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team to win four consecutive Southeastern Conference (SEC) East Division titles.

In 1973 and 1974, the teams also won the SEC championship, and Schmittou earned the SEC Baseball Coach of the Year Award.

Larry Schmittou was inspired to get involved with Minor League Baseball when he observed the large crowds the Chattanooga Lookouts saw after owner Walter Reed acquired the Birmingham Barons and relocated the team to Chattanooga in 1976.

Schmittou was told by multiple Major League Baseball teams that they would be willing to put a minor league affiliate in Nashville if he provided a suitable ballpark.

He learned from a member of the Metro Board of Parks and Recreation that neither the Parks Board or the city of Nashville would be willing to pay for such a park.

So, Schmittou, along with help from country musician Conway Twitty, put together a group of investors including other country artists Cal Smith and Jerry Reed, as well as other Nashvillians, to finance a stadium and a minor league team.

Twenty shares valued at US$15,000 each were issued; Schmittou purchased 2 shares, or 10 percent of the team, and Twitty purchased 4 shares for a 20 percent stake.

The Metro Parks Board agreed to lease to Schmittou the site of Nashville's former softball fields on the grounds of Fort Negley, an American Civil War fortification, approximately 2 mi south of downtown, for a period of 20 years as long as he built a stadium with a minimum capacity of 6,500 at a cost of at least $400,000 within 10 years.

In the second ten years, he would be required to pay the city seven percent of the team's total revenue.

Stoll-Reed Architects advised Schmittou that construction of a suitable stadium would cost between $300,000 and $500,000, but bids for the project ranged from $980,000 to $1.2 million.

Schmittou looked to local suppliers to donate construction materials, took out a $30,000 loan from a bank, sold season tickets in advance of having a team, and even mortgaged his own home to help pay for the facility.

The actual cost totaled $1.5 million.

From 1978 to 1996, he owned shares in several Minor League Baseball teams, beginning with the Nashville Sounds.

He also owned shares in the Daytona Beach Islanders, Eugene Emeralds, Greensboro Hornets, Huntsville Stars, Salem Redbirds, Salt Lake City Gulls, Wichita Pilots/Wranglers, and Winston-Salem Spirits baseball teams as well as a minor league hockey team and minor league basketball team.

While president of the Sounds, Nashville led all of Minor League Baseball in attendance in their first season and went on to lead the Southern League in attendance in each of their seven seasons as members of the league.

The franchise was recognized for its promotion efforts when it won the Larry MacPhail Award for outstanding minor league promotions in 1978, 1980, and 1981.

Schmittou was chosen for the Southern League Executive of the Year Award in 1978 and was inducted into the Southern League Hall of Fame in 2016.

Schmittou was later hired to serve as the Vice President of Marketing for the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball (MLB) team from 1983 to 1986.

He won the American Association Executive of the Year Award in 1987 and 1989.

He also headed a group that sought, unsuccessfully, to place major league franchise in the city as part of the 1993 MLB expansion.

In 2006, Schmittou was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

He was awarded the Fred Russell Lifetime Achievement Award by the Nashville Sports Council in 2011.