Black Baseball & Knoxville Parks
Knoxville's Black Baseball Roots and the Parks That Sustained Them
“... he went to Squire [W. F.] Yardley, colored, and swore out a warrant against the cadet, who he thinks ought to be willing to play base ball 'without regard to race, color, or previous condition of servitude.'”
- “Captain Eaton” Eats His Rations: The Civil Rights Bill as Applicable to Base Ball.
Daily Press and Herald March 18, 1875.
Batting Up Since 1867
Knoxville's first Negro League team, the Knoxville Giants, joined the Negro Southern League as an inaugural member in 1920. However, the Black community's connection with baseball traces further back in time with Black people playing baseball throughout the city since at least 1867. The earliest recorded Black baseball club was known as the Bright Eagles, who played the Greeneville baseball team at the Union grounds on Gay Street.
Knoxville Daily Herald, November 09, 1867
Many events throughout Knoxville’s history were celebrated with summer baseball games, including celebrations on Emancipation Day. Teams were usually created through work, with many recorded games between barbers, railroad workers, and bell boys throughout Knoxville. Early Black baseball team names included Bright Eagles, Knoxville Clippers, L. E. Payne Base Ball Club, Houk Reds, Carters, Lone Stars, Singleton’s Tigers, and of course, the Knoxville College baseball team, where James G. Beck was a star pitcher in 1905.
A group of bellhops in the early 1900s, likely from the Farragut Hotel. Many early Black Knoxville baseball teams consisted of hotel staff.
Dr. Robert J. Booker Archive Studio at Beck Cultural Exchange Center
Knoxville College Baseball Team, 1923
Frustrations about segregated baseball were felt throughout early baseball history, especially before the first professional Negro Southern League. When baseball was still in its infancy, it was sometimes difficult to find other teams to play since white teams refused to play Black teams or even allow them to use their baseball diamonds. In 1875, Charles Eaton approached Squire W. F. Yardley to pursue a suit against Cadet Frank Jones of the University Base Ball Club. Eaton worked as a hotel waiter and had created a team of talented Black men to play baseball. He decided to challenge the University Base Ball club to a game of ball, signed simply: “Charles Eaton, colored, captain.”
“... he went to Squire [W. F.] Yardley, colored, and swore out a warrant against the cadet, who he thinks ought to be willing to play base ball 'without regard to race, color, or previous condition of servitude.'”
- “Captain Eaton” Eats His Rations: The Civil Rights Bill as Applicable to Base Ball. Daily Press and Herald March 18, 1875.
This particular incident is just one part of the environment of racial discrimination that repressed the success of Black baseball teams as they found it difficult to make their name known and play against other qualified teams due to racial segregation, which frustrated Black baseball players who simply wanted to play the game without worrying about being targeted. Games had to be played wherever they could find the space: the Knoxville Iron Works diamond, the Zinc Mascot Center, Beaman’s Lake, or out of town.
First Black Lawyer of Knoxville, educator, Justice of Peace, alderman, and the first Black candidate in the Tennessee Gubernatorial Election, William F. Yardley.
Dr. Robert J. Booker Archive Studio at Beck Cultural Exchange Center
Where To Play?
A 1916 city engineering map showing Brewer's Park.
Image courtesy of Old Knoxville Baseball Blog - Link
In 1895, Baldwin Park opened on Asylum Street (now Western Avenue) as Knoxville’s primary baseball park. Black teams often used the park, including an 1895 game between Knoxville and Chattanooga. “Big John” Singleton, a star player, hit the ball five out of five times in that game.
Singleton became a prominent figure in Knoxville baseball history. He started his own team, the Singleton’s Tigers or the East Tennessee Brewery Tigers, in 1900, challenging baseball segregation. White officials canceled a special Emancipation Day ballgame at Baldwin Park in 1901, forcing him to cede the field due to bureaucracy. Other games at Baldwin Park had to finish quickly to accommodate the white team.
Black baseball teams needed their own parks to avoid racial discrimination. Some Black baseball grounds, like one on Belle Avenue, appeared. Teams continued to play at Baldwin Park until at least 1910, when Brewer’s Park became the primary location.
Brewer’s Park hosted baseball games featuring renowned Black players and community members like bell boys and physicians. Prominent Black physician Dr. H. M. Green oversaw early games. In 1920,
The Journal and Tribune
declared Brewer’s Park as Knoxville’s Black baseball home, boldly titled: “Negroes Secure Brewer’s Park: To Be Known as Booker Washington Park—Home Grounds of Giants.”
Headlines from John Singleton’s attempts to keep Baldwin Park reserved for a special Emancipation Day celebration, from The Journal and Tribune, 1901.
Mt. Zion Baptist Girls' Baseball Team, c. 1905. At left is Pastor Lewis A. Carter and Coach James G. Beck is at right.
Dr. Robert J. Book Archive Studio at Beck Cultural Exchange Center
The first Black community baseball league was led by James G. Beck as part of the Knoxville Sentinel Baseball leagues, known as the East Tennessee Colored League. Eight teams represented the neighborhoods of Knoxville and its surroundings, including Bearden, Lonsdale, Park City, Straw Plains, Vestal, Alcoa, and Maryville. Each team often hosted their own games, and true to the roots of Black baseball in Knoxville, several games were still held at the Lonsdale Knoxville Iron Company baseball diamond.
While Black players still had to face racial discrimination and injustice, the success of the Negro Southern League and other professional Black baseball teams had encouraged white audiences to support their teams, meaning that they were more willing to share their parks or attend their games. Several games were played at Chilhowee Park and Sterchi Park, especially in celebration of emancipation on the Eighth of August. No matter where they played, Knoxville’s Black baseball players continued to succeed and excel in their sport, advocating for justice and racial equality.
