UT's 1893 Season - sort of

I was looking back at the early years of the University of Tennessee baseball program and I came across something that didn't set well with me.  From the 2014 UT Baseball Record Book:

Newspaper records trace Tennessee baseball history to 1897, the first year the university had an official baseball team.

2014 UT Baseball Record Book
page 98

"That can't be correct," I thought.  Based on knowing the base ball scene in Knoxville I thought that there must have been a UT team prior to 1897.  Better dig around a bit. 

The LA84.org site has scanned some old publications that deal with sports.  I found this proposed schedule for the Southern Intercollegiate Association.

The Sporting Life - April 1, 1893

Transcribed from the above article:

• Vanderbilt vs. University of Tennessee, at Nashville, April 24 and 25.
• Vanderbilt vs. University of Tennessee, at Knoxville, May 6.
• Sewanee vs. University of Tennessee, at Sewanee, April 22.
• Sewanee vs. University of Tennessee, at Knoxville, April 14 and 15.
• University of Alabama vs. University of Tennessee, at Chattanooga, April 25.
• University of Alabama vs. University of Tennessee, at Birmingham, April 7 and 8.

And then placed in chronological order:

• University of Alabama vs. University of Tennessee, at Birmingham, April 7 and 8.
• Sewanee vs. University of Tennessee, at Knoxville, April 14 and 15.
• Sewanee vs. University of Tennessee, at Sewanee, April 22.
• Vanderbilt vs. University of Tennessee, at Nashville, April 24 and 25.
• University of Alabama vs. University of Tennessee, at Chattanooga, April 25.
• Vanderbilt vs. University of Tennessee, at Knoxville, May 6.

Now this poses a bit of a problem since Vandy and 'Bama are both scheduled to play UT on April 25, in two different cities.  Hmmm. 

Wait.  The Southern Intercollegiate Association?  Was that a precursor to the NCAA?  In a sense, yes.  Let's side track a bit.

For the happenings of 1892 I found this clip:

The New York Clipper Annual for 1894

The Sporting Life gives a bit more detail:

The Sporting Life - December 31, 1892

This story was getting some regional attention:

The Savannah Tribune - January 7, 1893

Closer to home, a local Knoxville paper talks of "The U.T. boys are enthusiastic and say that they propose to pull down some of the plums."

Knoxville Daily Journal - January 8, 1893

A month later we see the University of Michigan trying to plan their southern trip.  They want to play in Knoxville.  Against the University of Tennessee.  So, in early February there was still talk of UT having a baseball team.

The Sporting Life - February 11, 1893

But I'm having difficulty finding any records that the University of Tennessee nine played against SIA opponents in the spring of 1893.

There were some games played in the SIA that year.

Daily Enquirer-Sun (Columbus, Georgia) - April 16, 1893

And if we look at the record of Sewanee from one of their annuals it shows that more games were played, but none against Tennessee.

Cap and Gown - 1895

We see that Sewanee was the winner of the Southern division of the Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association.

The News and Courier (Charleston, SC) - May 9, 1893

But from the Cap and Gown records we see that the University of the South fell to Virginia, 5-13.

A peek inside the University of Alabama's annual, The Corolla, for 1893 doesn't show UT as being part of the SIA.  For some reason or other they have dropped out.

The Corolla - 1893

I did find a few articles that show there was some UT baseball activity that spring.

Knoxville Daily Journal - February 5, 1893

Knoxville Daily Journal - February 27, 1893

Knoxville Daily Journal - April 30, 1893

The DeHarts appear to have been a youth team in existence from at least 1891 to 1895, maybe longer, but that's a post for another time.

So, did the University of Tennessee have "an official baseball team" in 1893?  It could be argued that there were plans for one based on the meeting for the formation of the Southern Intercollegiate Association.  On the other hand, since there's no record that the team played other collegiate nines, it might be safe to say that there wasn't "an official baseball team".

UT Record Book image from UTSports.com
The Sporting Life articles from LA84.org
NY Clipper image from Google Books
Cap and Gown image from archive.org
The Corolla image from University of Alabama
other articles from GenealogyBank.com