The record crowd for Sunday's Sounds exhibition game against the Texas Rangers at First Tennessee Park was indicative of a city that hasn't hosted a major league baseball team in 20 years.

A buzz hummed among the 11,824 fans who braved a pre-game rain delay. Fans were waiting to get inside the park for more than two hours before first pitch.

"Honestly, it's kind of insane," said Sounds fan Blake Slaughter of Smyrna. "I go to Sounds games all the time, and I've never seen a crowd like this for any game."

In a city that already supports NFL and NHLfranchises, with an MLS team on the way, a hot topic around town for years is the desire for an MLB franchise.

"It's a great city, and I've said this before ... if you put this city in the big leagues, it would be in the top five among players," said Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward, who spent part of the 2008 season with the Sounds when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers organization. "It is a big league city."

Nashville was fourth among 160 minor league baseball teams in attendance in 2018 with 603,135. Texas' former Class AAA affiliate, Round Rock, was just ahead of the Sounds with 616,636. The Sounds averaged 8,741 per home game in the 10,000-capacity (8,500 fixed seating) First Tennessee Park.

"The fans have definitely supported us," said Sounds general manager Adam Nuse, who is in his fourth season with the club. "We led the minor leagues in attendance most of last year. The fan support is certainly there for minor league baseball. Major league? It's hard to tell. It might be a little early now, but the community is definitely known to be able to support big things."

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred named Nashville one of six cities the league is considering for expansion

Whether that happens, the city has proved itself on a smaller scale, particularly since moving into First Tennessee Park in 2015.

"It's a great baseball community," said Sounds manager Jason Wood, who thinks the city is ready to support a major league team. "It's a growing city ... You can see that. This is a city that can handle major league baseball, no question."

The Sounds defeated the Rangers 4-3 on Sunday behind first baseman Preston Beck’s two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth. Beck went 3-for-4.

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@tennessean.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.

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