Prior professional baseball in Knoxville Knoxville has hosted
Minor League Baseball teams since the late 19th century. The city's professional baseball history dates back to 1896 with the formation of the
Knoxville Indians who played two seasons in the
Southeastern League. They were followed by the
Knoxville Reds (1902–1905). In 1904, the Reds won the city's first professional championship in the
Tennessee–Alabama League. The stadium was named for Knoxville native son and former
Pittsburgh Pirates manager
Billy Meyer. The field was named in memory of Neal Ridley, a former team owner, in 1984, following his death the previous year. From 1999 to 2005, the Smokies were the Double-A affiliate of the
St. Louis Cardinals. However, when the Cardinals purchased the
El Paso Diablos, which had been the
Arizona Diamondbacks' Double-A affiliate, the Diamondbacks retained the Smokies as their new Double-A affiliate. On September 21, 2006, the
Chicago Cubs, who had previously had a Double-A affiliation with division rival
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, reached a two-year player development contract with the Smokies through the 2008 season.
Chicago Cubs (2007–present) takes an at-bat for the
Tennessee Smokies in 2019 In December 2008, Hall of Famer and former Chicago Cubs All-Star second baseman
Ryne Sandberg was named manager for the 2009 season. Sandberg led the Smokies to a second-half Southern League North Division crown and a 3–1 divisional playoff series win over the
Huntsville Stars. The Smokies would eventually fall 3-games-to-1 to the
Jacksonville Suns for the 2009 Southern League Championship. In June 2013, the then-Smokies' ownership group, led by
Cleveland Browns owner
Jimmy Haslam, sold the team to
Randy Boyd, a local Knoxville businessman. Though a devoted baseball fan, Boyd is not involved in the day-to-day management of the team, delegating those responsibilities to CEO Doug Kirchhofer and General Manager Brian Cox. In 2016, speculation began that Boyd was wanting to move the Smokies back to Knoxville after he had purchased several parcels in downtown Knoxville. Boyd said he had envisioned a baseball stadium on that site, but at that time had no plans to bring the baseball team back to Knoxville until 2025, when the current stadium contract expires. On July 11, 2014, The Chicago Cubs and Tennessee Smokies announced an extension to their Player Development Contract (PDC) for the maximum possible term of four years. The agreement meant the Smokies were to remain the Cubs' Double-A affiliate through the 2018 season. On October 22, 2014, the Smokies revealed new logos, colors, and uniforms that reflected their ongoing relationship with the Chicago Cubs organization. Smokies Stadium experienced its largest baseball attendance ever of 7,958 on May 13, 2017, against the Montgomery Biscuits. The Smokies lost the game 3–1, which was also
Star Wars Night. The previous attendance record was the 7,866 on July 24, 2015, against the Chattanooga Lookouts. The Smokies won the game 8–4, which was also
Toy Story Night and Daddy-Daughter Date Night. In conjunction with
Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Smokies were organized into the
Double-A South. In 2022, the Double-A South became known as the Southern League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. In 2021, Tennessee Smokies owner Randy Boyd announced that the team would be moving back to Knoxville in a new stadium built in the
Old City neighborhood, with the plans to play at the
new stadium in 2024. It was announced the team would revive its former name of the Knoxville Smokies upon the move. The 2022 Smokies qualified for the Southern League playoffs by virtue of having the second-best full-season record in the Northern Division behind the
Rocket City Trash Pandas, who won both halves of the season. Tennessee defeated Rocket City, 2–1, to win the Northern Division title and advance to the finals against the
Pensacola Blue Wahoos. ==Season-by-season results==