Sounds Name Umpire Dressing Room After Nashville Native Chuck Meriwether

The Nashville Sounds Baseball Club named the umpire dressing room at First Tennessee Park in honor of Nashville native and longtime Major League Baseball umpire Chuck Meriwether.

Sounds owner Frank Ward formally unveiled the plaque honoring Meriwether in a pregame ceremony before Friday evening's 6:35 p.m. contest against Memphis. Meriwether was joined by members of his family, along with that evening's umpire crew, for the announcement ceremony.

Meriwether was born and raised in Nashville and graduated from Father Ryan Academy. After earning a degree from Athens State College, he dedicated the entirety of his professional life to the game of baseball.

He became a professional umpire in 1979. After serving 14 seasons in the minor leagues, Meriwether was promoted to the majors in 1993 and worked 18 seasons in the big leagues before retiring after the 2010 season.

Since his retirement as an active umpire, Meriwether has worked for Major League Baseball as an Umpire Supervisor, a role in which his duties include evaluating, teaching, and providing mentorship to current umpires at both the Triple-A and Major League levels, including several visits a year to First Tennessee Park.

In addition to his professional duties with MLB, Meriwether is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Sports Authority for the city of Nashville, a group whose mission is to acquire, improve, repair, operate and maintain professional sports facilities and their surrounding campuses in Metro Nashville and Davidson County.