H. M. Edmonds

 

H. M. Edmonds was elected captain of the University of Tennessee baseball team in February of 1898.  A month earlier he was elected as Vice-President of the local YMCA.

1888 Vanderbilt Field Day

In the spring of 1888, early May to be specific, athletes from various universities in Tennessee, came to Nashville to compete in various athletic and scholastic competitions.  Track and field events were scheduled, as well as am oratory contest.

The highlight would be the base ball games between the Vanderbilt and University of Tennessee clubs.

The Daily American - May 4, 1888

The first day started with field sports beginning at 2:15pm with the ball game to begin at 4 o'clock.

The Daily American - May 4, 1888

Vanderbilt was to be the victor in the first game, winning 9-6.

The Daily American - May 5, 1888

A second game was sceduled for the next day.  Vanderbilt, again, was victorious.  This time the score was 9-1.

The Daily American - May 6, 1888

These are the first recorded meetings of the two school's baseball teams.   The University of Tennessee says that their first official baseball team was formed in 1897.  I might argue, but not too strongly at this time.

UT vs Indiana

The University of Tennessee Volunteers have played against the Hoosiers of Indiana University just three times before this weekend's series.  1917, 1921, and 2011.  UT won the first twp of those games.

The Hoosier's Record Book (pdf file) and Game Notes (pdf file) have the two teams only having played twice (1917 and 2011).  The Vols' Game Notes (pdf file) have the teams playing three times.

Here's what my research produced.

IU plans a southern tour, scheduling UT on Wednesday, March 28, 1917.  Here's what was happening that month: The Jones Act was created, Puerto Rico territory created, US citizenship granted. In the Stanley Cup: Seattle Metropolitans (PCHA) beat Montreal Canadiens (NHL), 3 games to 1 - Seattle is 1st US team to win Stanley Cup.  The US is the first nation to recognize the new government of Russia.

As reported in newspapers around the nation, UT downs IU, 5-2.

The Indianapolis News explains why.

Four years later, the Hoosiers return to Knoxville and drop the game, 13-3.  Events of that month include: Iowa imposes the first state cigarette tax. Albert Einstein lectures in New York City on his new "Theory of Relativity". KDKA broadcast first radio sporting event, a boxing match (Ray-Dundee, 10 round, no decision from Pittsburgh's Motor Square Garden).

90 years later, on March 5, 2011, the Hoosiers found revenge, besting the Vols 6-3.  Some events of that month were: The Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights. A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant melts and explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after Japan's earthquake. Charlie Sheen is fired from the CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men". 52nd SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Florida, 70-54.

Jumping ahead to 2019, the Vols have already taken the first game of the series, 5-1 and as I type this, are up 2-0, at the top of the third inning of the second game.

University bbc refuses challenge of local colored bbc - 1875

Not a shining day in UT base ball history.

Public Ledger (Memphis, Tennessee) - March 30, 1875

There was a bit more information in the local press.

Press and Messenger (Knoxville, Tennessee) - March 31, 1875

Public Ledger image from Chronicling America
Press and Messenger image from GenealogyBank.com

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

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

The Second part of UT's 1909 season

Earlier I posted about the first part of UT's 1909 season.  Time to finish that season out.  There will be a bit of repeated info in this post.

Let's look at UT's schedule, according to the yearbook.

1909 Volunteer

And then the compiled results.

2014 University of Tennessee Record Book

April 30 - May 1 Vanderbilt, at Knoxville -

It would appear that the game got moved off of Friday, April 30 to Saturday, May 1.  The scores in both the Sporting Life and The Orange and White match what is in the UT Record Book.

Sporting Life - May 15, 1909

The Orange and White - May 7, 1909

May 6-8 Georgia, at Athens - the scores match.

The Orange and White - May 14, 1909

May 13-15 University of Chattanooga, at Chattanooga - these games were cancelled by Chattanooga.  UT had hoped to schedule a replacement series with Cumberland, but that did not appear to happen.

The Orange and White - May 7, 1909

May 13-15 Mercer, at Macon - the scores match.

First, one of the local papers:

The Daily Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN) - May 11, 1909

The Daily Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN) - May 12, 1909

And then the student paper:

The Orange and White - May 14, 1909

May 20-22 Kentucky State, at Knoxville - I wrote about this series in detail a few weeks back.

The games seem to have been played on dates in the Record Book and the scores match.

The Daily Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN) - May 22, 1909

The Daily Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN) - May 23, 1909

The Daily Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN) - May 24, 1909

Here's an overview of the season published in the May 21, 1909 issue of The Orange and White.

The Orange and White - May 21, 1909

Here's a look at the team photo:

1909 Volunteer
UT's 1909 baseball team

1909 Volunteer
UT's 1909 Baseball Roster

So, after all that research, what should the season look like in the UT Record Book?  Something like this: