Tin Wedding and Reunion - a look back at the Reckless club of Maryville College

scorecard between the Reckless club and the Crooked Creek club, late 1870s
Original scorecard held at Maryville College Archives

This scorecard from a game between the Reckless club and the Crooked Creek club caused me to do a bit more research.

The first mention of the Reckless club was in the Maryville College student newspaper in 1876.

I found an article in the February 11, 1920 edition of The Maryville Times that looked back at an article from The Times of 1891.  In that article Mr. John A. Goddard looks back at the original Reckless club of Maryville College.  Several of the men mentioned in the article are in the scorecard.

The Maryville Times - February 11, 1920

Maryville College hosts Johnson Bible College - 1918

Maryville College and Johnson Bible College first played each other in 1912.  It would appear that the first game was won by JBC by a score of 6-4.  MC won the next two games, (7-6, 12-2).

The first game with any sort of meaningful write up occurred on April 26, 1918.  Maryville won, as they would consistently do in future meetings.

 

What did the teams look like back then?  Glad you asked.

1918 Maryville College Baseball Team
image from Chilhowean (1919)

Johnson Bible College Newsletter - July, 1918
image from Johnson University

What do the teams look like now?  Again, glad you asked.

2016 Maryville College Scots
image from MCScots.com

Johnson University Royals
image from JohnsonRoyals.com

The teams take to the field in Maryville tonight at 6pm, 104 years since they first met.  The equipment and the names have changed, but it is still baseball.

UT's 1894 season

A bit of research on UT's 1894 base ball season yielded a more info than their 1893 season did.

The local paper speaks well of the upcoming base ball season.

Knoxville Daily Journal - January 21, 1894

In fact, things are going so well that a second squad has been formed.

Knoxville Daily Journal - March 11, 1894

And the second squad was almost as good as the University school club.

Knoxville Daily Journal - March 18, 1894

The team traveled to Blount County to take on Maryville College.

Knoxville Daily Journal - April 8, 1894

And a review of the game from the losing side.

The Maryville Times - April 11, 1894

The boys take a trip.

Knoxville Daily Journal - April 19, 1894

Here's Sewanee's year in base ball from their yearbook.

Cap and Gown - 1895

And Vanderbilt's year.  I've highlighted the 1894 season.

The Commodore - unknown year (19??)

So, right now, here's how I have UT's schedule for the year.  They finished up 2-3 in college play.

I'm sure that more research needs to be done.

Knoxville Daily Journal articles from GenealogyBank.com
The Maryville Times article from LoC's Chronicling America
Cap and Gown image from archive.org
The Commodore image from ancestry.com

Maryville College - 1950

image from Maryville College Chilhowean 1951 at Archive.org

Earl Baxter Williams - side by side

Last week I posted some photos of Earl Baxter Williams.  To make it a bit easier on the eyes I've cropped, framed, and numbered eight images that I think are of Earl Baxter Williams.  Pictures 1-5 are from various editions of the Maryville College yearbook, Chilhowean.

Picture 5 is 'new'.  It is from the 1924 Chilhowean, but a different player than previously posted.

Pictures 6 and 7 are 'new' and from a private collection.

Picture 8 is 'new' and from Earl's Find-A-Grave memorial page, with the submitter saying that he got it from OOTP.

Any informed thoughts would be welcome in the comment section.

Earl Baxter Williams - the college years

Earl Baxter Williams was born January 27, 1903, in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.  He attended Maryville College and went on to a seven season minor league career.  He made it to the majors, playing three games with the Boston Braves in 1928.  He and his brother, Roger, were associated with WNOX, an early radio station in Knoxville.

Digging through the Chilhowean yearbooks from Maryville College I've pulled out some photos of Baxter, as he was known.

UPDATE: April 23, 2014 - I shared this post with Mark Fimoff, co-chairman of the SABR Pictorial Committee.  I'm adding his comments in red in the captions of the photos.

1921 Maryville College baseball team
1922 Chilhowean (page 127)

Close up of Baxter Williams
1921 Maryville College Baseball Team
(images straightened and background filled in)

1922 Maryville College baseball team
1923 Chilhowean (page 150)

Close up of Baxter Williams
1922 Maryville College Baseball Team
is likely a different person than the 1922 Baseball Team Portrait (B. Williams)

1923 Maryville College baseball team
1924 Chilhowean (page 171)

Close up of Baxter Williams
1923 Maryville College Baseball Team
is for sure a different person than the 1922 Baseball Team Portrait (B. Williams)

Baxter was a multi sport athlete.  He hurt his ankle and sat out a few games of football.

1924 Chilhowean (page 160)
the same person as the 1922 Baseball Team Portrait (B. Williams)

1923 Maryville College track team
1924 Chilhowean (page 173)

Close up of Baxter Williams
1923 Maryville College Track Team

In the 1924 Chilhowean he is listed as a member of the Glee Club and also of the M Club (letterman's club)

1924 Maryville College baseball team
1925 Chilhowean (page 133)

Close up of Baxter Williams
1924 Maryville College Baseball Team
is yet another person, he may be a match to R. Williams in the 1922 Team photo but I'm not at all sure of that

UPDATE continued: Taking a look with fresh eyes, I'd agree that the final photos (1924 MC Baseball Team) are not of Baxter Williams.  Perhaps the photo was taken after Baxter went to the Knoxville Pioneers.  It has a resemblance of his brother, Roger Williams from the first photo.  There are more people in the 1923 Team photo than have names listed.  Perhaps Baxter is dead center in front of the brick wall.  I still see Baxter Williams in the 1922 Team photo.  I'll try to isolate and group the closeups for easier comparison. - Mark

The student newspaper reports that Baxter didn't complete the last two games of the 1924 season because he had signed with the (Knoxville) Pioneers.

The Highland Echo
June 4, 1924

all images from archive.org

Vols Will Meet Maryville Club

The Journal and Tribune - April 28, 1918

The Journal and Tribune - May 1, 1918

Some more of UT's 1918 Season

In the previous post I looked at the games between Maryville College and the University of Tennessee during 1918.  I'll continue with the rest of the season.

2013 University of Tennessee Baseball Record Book

Note the asterisk.  * All scores not available. There's a gap from mid April until early May.  My guess is that a few games were played during that time.

Dallas Morning News - April 13, 1918

As the major league teams headed back to the northeast they'd wind their way through home playing each other, college teams, and other semi-pro teams to keep in shape and to give the locals a bit of a thrill.  "Look, Billie, the Pirates are comin' to town.  Major leaguers."   Generally the pros would win.  They did this time, but there is a discrepancy in the score reported.

The next week the Volunteers headed north to play Georgetown College.

The Lexington Herald - April 18, 1918

The reported score matches the Record Book.  Now we have a location.  It was an away game for UT.

The Lexington Herald - April 19, 1918

The following snippet caught my eye, just part of an editorial section in sports page.  I don't hear the term "wicked whip" used much anymore.

The Lexington Herald - April 19, 1918

The date and scores match up and it was an away game for UT.

The Lexington Herald - April 20, 1918

Apparently it was supposed to be a double header, but the weather had other plans.

The Lexington Herald - April 21, 1918

Jumping ahead in time by about a month, during which UT played Maryville, the Volunteers welcomed the Wildcats.

With the Kentuckians coming to Maryville we see a bit of name discrepancy in the press.  "Kentucky State?  Aren't they The University of Kentucky?"  They are now.  A short history of UK can be found here.  It explains when and why the institution changed names.  In 1916 they became the University of Kentucky.

The Highland Echo - May 21, 1918

The Lexington Herald - May 19, 1918

Charleston News and Courier - May 19, 1918

With UK's names being semi-interchangeable it is easy to see how confusing might have entered the Record Book.