Knoxville Reds - 1878

The Fayetteville Observer - August 1, 1878

Victorious Vols Return To City - 1918

Looking again to the University of Tennessee's 1918 season I'm going to to turn to the local newspapers.  In the fourth paragraph we see that the Vols are taking a few weeks off.  This explains the sizable gap in the season record published in the modern UT Record Book.

They also beat Georgetown and "Kentucky State".  That school is what we now know as the University of Kentucky.

The Journal and Tribune - April 22, 1918

Now why would I include an article about a wrestling match?  Because it isn't a news story.  It is an advertisement.  More importantly we see another side of UT Coach Frank Moffett.  He was apparently promoting wrestling matches on the side.

The Journal and Tribune - April 22, 1918

images copied from the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection

Knoxville College baseball team ca. 1929

Image cropped from The Knoxville Negro, part of the digital collection of the Selected Photographs from the Holdings of the McClung Historical Collection.

Knoxville Names Park

I'm starting to do a bit of research into the ballparks of Knoxville.  Here's a start.

Smithson stadium, named after Knoxville Councilman W. N. Smithson, was razed in early 1953.  It was replaced by Knoxville Municipal Stadium in 1953.  In 1957 it was renamed Bill Meyer Stadium in honor of the former player and manager, William Adam Meyer.

The Greensboro Record - May 2, 1957

Leo (Muscle) Shoals Shot

The Sporting News - August 24, 1939

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. 

Maryville College vs. University of Tennessee - 1918

The Highland Echo - May 14, 1918

Charleston News and Courier - May 4, 1918

The Highland Echo - May 7, 1918

The Highland Echo - May 7, 1918

So what can we learn from the above two articles compared to what we think we know?  Here's the season info from the UT Baseball Record Book.

2013 University of Tennessee Baseball Record Book

The first article says: The great series of the season started last Friday when U.T. came to Maryville and beat the Highlanders in the first game 5-1.

Then it says: After being defeated the day before on her home grounds Maryville went to Knoxville Saturday to haul U.T. into camp in a thrilling eleven inning contest, 9-8.

The second article says: The third game of the U.T. series was lost Friday 4-3.

Looking at a calendar for May of 1918, we see that the first Friday mentioned was the 5/3, not 5/10 as the UT Record Book says and the score was 5-1, not 5-3.  The game was played in Maryville.

The info on the Saturday game lines up.  5/4, with the score being 8-9 in 11 innings.  The game was played in Knoxville.

The second article's Friday would have been on 5/10, not the 5/11 listed in the Record Book.  The score from the article was 4-3, not the 9-4 listed.  The game was played in Knoxville.

A look at more of the UT 1918 season is in the works.