1939 Knoxville Smokies

Earlier this year I was gifted a team photo of the 1939 Knoxville Smokies.  I have not seen this in the local papers or in various baseball guides. 

That season they were part of the class A-1 Southern Association and were managed by Neil Caldwell.  Their team page at BBRef can be found here. The team had eight former or future Major Leaguers on it and they finished with a 79-73 record, finishing 5th in the league.  That was their second and final yeat to be associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

MLB Speedway Classic

The MLB Speedway Classic at Bristol is just a few months away.  On August 2, 2025, the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds will meet in what is being billed as "the first Major League Baseball game in Tennessee, ever."

I'm sure it will be a rollicking good time, but I need to correct their marketing department.  On August 4, 1944 (almost 81 years to the day), The Birmingham Black Barons and the Chicago American Giants, both teams members of the Negro American League, crossed bats at Smithson Stadium in Knoxville.

In December of 2020 MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred announced that the Negro Leagues now have "Major League" status.  Simple logic says that if the Negro Leagues are Major League, then those players and games played are also to be considered Major League.

It is very possible that an earlier Negro League game was played elsewhere in Tennessee prior to August 4, 1944.  Perhaps in Nashville, Chattanooga, or Memphis.  But for now, we know that a Major League game was played in Knoxville in the summer of '44.


UPDATE

Other researches have put forth credible games that would fit the definition of Major League teams playing in Tennessee.

 My good friend Skip Nipper suggested a game between the Nashville Elite Giants and the St. Louis Stars played at Wilson Park in Nashville on April 26, 1930.  Both teams were part of the Negro National League.

Another researcher, Craig Lammers, reminded me that the Negro Southern League of 1932 is considered a Major League with clubs in both Nashville and Memphis.

And researcher and author Keith Wood chimed in that the Memphis Red Sox played in the Negro National League in 1924 and 1925.

At first Memphis was an associate member of the NNL in 1924.  After the Indianapolis ABCs collapsed near the end of June, they were designated as an associate team, Memphis was elevated to full member status.

The first game played at home for Memphis after becoming full members was against Birmingham on July 11, 1924.

So, just over 101 years before the MLB Speedway Classic will be played out, the Major Leagues had already played their first game in the wonderful state of Tennessee.