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.

Knoxville Baseball Club, 1921

A new season, new uniforms.

from the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection
link

The Knoxville Sentinel said on March 22, 1921: Uniforms have been chosen for the club. While at home, the team will play in white suits, the stocking being black. Road suits of dark grey and stockings of grey with a red stripe around the calf have been selected.

1909 Grammar School Champions

I came across this image at the Calvin McClung Digital Collection.  The description is: 

Grammar School Championship - ‘09.  Baseball team with ‘NK’ on uniforms.  2nd row, left (with left arm across chest) is Hoxsie Lovejoy. 

A bit of searching at newspapers.com provided more information.

1925 Smokies Home Opener

 

1925 Knoxville Smokies
The Knoxville Journal
May 24, 1925

Monday, April 27, 1925, should have been the home opener for the Knoxville Smokies, now competing in the Class B South Atlantic League after moving up from the Class D Appalachian League. The game was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Caswell Park, with festivities begining two hours earlier with a parade on Gay Street.

Led by the Knoxville High School band, the parade began at the courthouse and featured both teams in uniform, followed by a procession of automobiles carrying officials from the Knoxville Baseball Association and South Atlantic League President W.G. Bramham.

At the park, the opening ceremonies were to follow tradition. Sally League President Bramham would be tossing the first pitch to May Morton, while City Manager Brownlow—bat on shoulder—tried for a ceremonial home run.

A change in ceremony saw Appalachian League President Grover C. Davis tossing the pitch to Public Welfare Director Frank Bane, with Public Service Director Alex Harris taking the swing.  Rev. George F. Moody stood at home plate and offered up a prayer for both teams and the league.

The Smokies came into the game with a 2–4 record after a road trip to Macon and Augusta. The opponent of the day, Charlotte, matched that record but had outscored Knoxville 36 to 30 and was batting .287 to the Smokies’ .246.

Manager Eddie McDonald’s Smokies took the field but faced an early onslaught: Charlotte scored once in the first inning and six more in the second. With two outs, the skies opened and rain halted the game.

Tuesday's game was also rained out. A doubleheader followed on Wednesday. Knoxville took the first game 5–4, outhitting Charlotte 10 to 7.  Rue “Kitty” Wickham thrilled local fans with a home run.  The game wrapped in a brisk hour and forty minutes, giving the newly refurbished Caswell Park its first Smokies win of the season.

The second game, however, was a disaster. Knoxville fell 21–7 in just seven innings before darkness mercifully ended the rout.

That loss may have been a sign of things to come. The Smokies finished the season in last place, with a 44–85 (.341) record.

sources: newspapers.com

1906 Imperial (Hotel) baseball team

Baseball in Knoxville in 1906 was rather slim.  There wasn't a semi-professional team in town, although Fran Moffett gathered together some of his former team.  The Knoxville City League started up in the middle of June, with four teams.

• Baker-Hind
• Imperial
• McClung
• YMCA 

Here's the Imperial team.  Note that the names with the image are slightly different than the names in the newspaper.

from the Calvin McClung Historical Collection
https://cmdc.knoxlib.org/digital/collection/p15136coll4/id/6544/rec/2

The Knoxville Sentinel
June 15, 1906
from newspapers.com

Joe Carter of the L. E. Paynes

 I came across a previously unknown (to me) colored team in Knoxville.  The L.E. Paynes of 1885.

from Newspapers.com

I was taken by the mention of specific players in the article, namely Joe Carter.  I went to Ancestry.com to see if Mr. Carter was in the Knoxville City Directory of 1885.  He was, as was his father, Burrell Carter.

from Ancestry.com

What else could I learn about Mr. Carter?  Off to FamilySearch.org where I found him in the 1880 US Census.

from FamilySearch.org

It appears that Joe was born in about 1863 in Tennessee.

from FamilySearch.org

Maybe he was born in 1862.

In my quick search I found less info on Louis E. Payne.  He was the Supervising Examiner of Tennessee and North Carolina, working in the Pension Office.

from Newspapers.com

In my experience it is uncommon to find names of early African-American ball players and difficult to assemble any sort of decent research materials.  This time I was lucky.