Knoxville Smokies

• Location: Knoxville, TN

• League: South Atlantic League 1925-1929; Southern Association 1931-1944; Tri-State League 1946-1952; Mountain States League 1953; Tri-State League 1954; South Atlantic League 1956-1963; Southern League 1964-1967, 1993-1999

• Affiliation: Brooklyn Dodgers 1937; Pittsburgh Pirates 1938-1939; New York Giants 1940; Brooklyn Dodgers 1941; New York Giants 1948-1952; Baltimore Orioles 1957-1958; Detroit Tigers 1959-1964; Cincinnati Reds 1965-1967; Toronto Blue Jays 1993-1999

• Ballpark: Caswell Park 1925-1929; Smithson Stadium 1931-1944, 1946-1952; Chapman Highway Park 1953; Knoxville Municipal Stadium/Bill Meyer Stadium 1956-1967, 1993-1999

Team History

The Knoxville Smokies have been members of several minor leagues - they were in the South Atlantic League from 1925-29. In '31, the Mobile Marines of the Southern Association moved to Knoxville and retook the Smokies nickname. This team hung around till 1944 when it returned to Mobile to become the Mobile Bears. After another year and a bit without baseball, Knoxville resumed action, this time in the Tri-State League; those Smokies ran from '46-'52. In 1953 the Smokies played in a fourth league (according to Pat Doyle's database - Mike McCann's minor league site disagrees), the Mountain States League. The next year they returned to the Tri-State League. In '55, that team collapsed as well; a year later the league called it quits. Again, baseball was not absent from Knoxville for long. In '56, the Montgomery Rebels of the SAL moved to Knoxville during the season, again assuming the Smokies name. After 26 years out of the SAL, the Smokies were back in their old home. The Smokies remained in the league through 1967; in '64 they returned to AA when the SAL became the Southern League and advanced a classification. Then the Smokies finally went into hibernation after near-continuous play for decades.

Baseball returned to Knoxville in 1972, but the new team was called the Knoxville Sox. When the affiliation switched in 1980 to the Toronto Blue Jays they became the Knoxville Blue Jays. History has a way of returning in baseball, though, and in 1993, the team was renamed the Smokies, reviving the nickname after 25 years of no usage. The Smokies were in the Southern League, as they were in their previous incarnation. Seven years later they switched to a new name, seeking a wider fan base by becoming the Tennessee Smokies, s their home base switched from Knoxville proper to suburban Sevier County, TN. In 2024, they are planning to move into a new ballpark in downtown Knoxville, and to revive the "Knoxville Smokies" name once again.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Pitching Coach	Notes
1925	44-85	8th	Ed McDonald / Bill Holden / W. Barbare	none
1926	68-79	7th	Frank Moffett	none
1927	79-68	3rd	Bob Coleman	none
1928	73-75	5th	Gabby Street	none
1929	85-61	1st	Joe Schepner	League Champs
1931	23-33 (57-94 overall)	7th	Milt Stock	none		Mobile moved to Knoxville July 22
1932	60-93	8th	Joe Schepner	none
1933	68-82	6th	Tommy Taylor
1934	73-80	6th	Lee Head
1935	57-95	8th	Lee Head
1936	63-87	6th	Jesse Petty (19-43) / Neil Caldwell (44-44)
1937	42-111	8th	Neil Caldwell
1938	59-91	8th	Neil Caldwell
1939	79-73	5th	Neil Caldwell
1940	57-96	8th	Neil Caldwell (39-58) / Fred Lindstrom (18-38)
1941	62-91	8th	Fred Lindstrom
1942	61-88	8th	Bert Niehoff
1943	65-71	5th	Buddy Lewis
1944	31-36 (63-74 overall)	--	Buddy Lewis			Team moved to Mobile July 5
1946	73-67	3rd	Dale Alexander	Lost League Finals
1947	73-67	3rd	Dale Alexander	Lost in 1st round
1948	71-76	6th	Dale Alexander (20-32) / Dave Garcia (51-44)
1949	72-73	5th	Frank Genovese
1950	89-58	1st	Jack Aragon	Lost in 1st round
1951	60-79	5th	Jack Aragon
1952	52-88	7th	Jack Aragon (24-37) / Fred Gerken (28-51)
1953	70-55	2nd	Vince Pankovits	League Champs
1954	72-66	2nd	Pat McGlothin (22-26) / Lewis Davis (18-23) / Ken Polivka (32-17)	League Champs
1956	53-87 overall	8th	Dick Bartell (43-63 overall) / Earl Weaver (10-24)			Montgomery moved to Knoxville June 18
1957	81-73	4th (t)	George Staller	Lost in 1st round
1958	67-73	5th	George Staller
1959	78-62	1st	Johnny Pesky	Lost in 1st round
1960	71-67	4th	Frank Skaff	Lost League Finals
1961	75-64	2nd	Frank Carswell	none
1962	86-54	2nd	Frank Carswell	Lost League Finals
1963	71-68	5th	Frank Carswell (27-28) / Frank Lary (1-1) / Frank Skaff (43-39)
1964	67-73	5th	Bob Mavis
1965	73-66	4th	Red Davis	none
1966	61-75	8th	Jack Cassini	none
1967	47-91	8th	Don Zimmer (26-46) / Lou Fitzgerald (21-45)	none
1993	71-71	8th	Garth Iorg	Lost League Finals
1994	64-76	8th	Garth Iorg		Mark Connor
1995	54-90	10th	Garth Iorg		Mark Connor
1996	75-65	4th	Omar Malave
1997	75-63	3rd	Omar Malave	Lost in 1st round
1998	71-69	4th	Omar Malave	Lost in 1st round
1999	71-69	6th	Omar Malave	Lost in 1st round