1921 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team

1921 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball
1921 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball
SIAA Champions
Conference	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record	20–5 (14–4 SIAA)
Head coach	Byrd Douglas;
Captain	Julian Thomas
Home stadium	Curry Field
	Seasons ← 1920 1922 →

The 1921 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team represented the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University in the 1921 NCAA baseball season, winning the SIAA championship.^[1]^[2] By May 29, the team had hit over .225 for the season, garnering 27 home runs, 17 triples, 26 doubles, 107 singles, and a total of 138 hits for 326 bases with 54 stolen bases.^[3]

The Commodores were coached by Byrd Douglas, Vanderbilt alumnus, once a star catcher of the Princeton baseball team. The yearbook claimed the season's success was "due almost entirely to one man", namely Douglas.^[2]^[4]

The 1921 Vanderbilt Commodores football team also won an SIAA title. Frank Godchaux, Doc Kuhn, Tot McCullough, Jess Neely, and Tom Ryan were also members of the football team.

Regular season

Vanderbilt's yearbook The Commodore states that in a 1921 game against Southwestern Presbyterian University, the team achieved a world record in scoring 13 runs in one inning, after two men were out. The Tennessean recalls the event: "Neely singled as did Kuhn; Neil fanned but Thomas got his third straight hit and both tallied. Big Tot got hit by a pitched ball and Smith was safe on a fielder's choice with one out. Woodruf flied out to right. Tyner slammed one to center which Jetty juggled and everybody advanced a pair of sacks. Ryan was safe on another error and two runs came over. Neely beat out his second hit of the inning and Kuhn walked. Neil walked. Thomas was safe on an error and Big Tot McCullough picked one over the right field fence, clearing the sacks--but oh, what's the use? Why continue?"^[2] Joe Smith hit a grand slam as well, and Manning Brown got a homer.^[5]

In the game against Camp Benning (GA), Neill netted a home run with a fly ball to left field, which bounced off the outfielder's knee for a home run.^[6]

The Kentucky game on May 17 and the Princeton game both went into extra innings.

From June 6 to June 15 the Commodores had an Eastern trip carrying them through Kentucky, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.^[4]^[7] Kuhn starred in the 3 to 2 loss to Princeton.^[8]

Schedule and results

Legend
	Vanderbilt win
	Vanderbilt loss
Bold	Vanderbilt team member

1921 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball game log

Exhibition Games
Date	Opponent	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall record	SIAA record
	Nashville Vols	Nashville, TN	L 3–7					0–0
March 25	Nashville Vols	Nashville, TN	L 4–11					0–0
April 1 ^[9]	Boston Red Sox	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	L 1–9 ^[9]					0–0

Regular season
Date	Opponent	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall record	SIAA record
April 2 ^[10]	Indiana	Dudley Field (Nashville, TN)	W 2–0	Slim Embry	Walker			1–0	0–0
	Mississippi		W 2–0					2–0	1–0
April 11	Southwestern Presbyterian	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 19–2					3–0	1–0
	Southwestern Presbyterian	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 13–4					4–0	1–0
April 18	Tennessee	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	L 2–11	Lefty Bishop	Tom Ryan			4–1	1–1
April 19	Tennessee	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 4–3	Slim Embry	Cantwell			5–1	2–1
April 20	Tennessee	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 3–2		Lefty Bishop			6–1	3–1
April 21	Mercer	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 5–3	Boots Richardson	Bob Sawin			7–1	4–1
April 23	Mercer	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	L 2–5	Tige Stone	Slim Embry			7–2	4–2
April 27	Georgia	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 7–4	Tot McCullough				8–2	5–2
April 28	Georgia	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 6–2	Slim Embry	Cliff Pantone			9–2	6–2
April 29	at Tennessee	Waite Field • Knoxville, TN	W 6–2	Slim Embry	Lefty Bishop			10–2	7–2
April 30	at Tennessee	Waite Field • Knoxville, TN	L 2–7	Cantwell	Tom Ryan			10–3	7–3
May 4	at Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, KY	W 9–4	Slim Embry	Cooper			11–3	8–3
May 7	Howard	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 16–1					12–3	9–3
	Howard	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 13–1					13–3	10–3
May 13	Centre	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 7–0					14–3	11–3
May 14	Centre	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 12–8					15–3	12–3
May 16	Kentucky	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 18–3					16–3	13–3
May 17	Kentucky	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 6–5					17–3	14–3
May 19	Camp Benning (GA)	Curry Field • Nashville, TN	W 5–3	Slim Embry	"Dirty" Jones			18–3	14–3
June 7	at Centre	Cheek Field • Danville, KY	L 3–7	Tommy Moran	Slim Embry			18–4	14–4
June 11	at Princeton	University Field • Princeton, NJ	L 2–3	Thomas	Slim Embry			18–5	14–4
	at Washington & Lee	Lexington, VA	W 2–1					19–5	14–4
June 14	at Washington & Lee	Lexington, VA	W 13–4	Tot McCullough				W 20–5	14–4

Roster

Coaches

Name	Position
Byrd Douglas	Head Coach
Strat Foster	Manager

Players

Name	Position
A. Bell	2B
Bell	3B
B. Brown	OF
Manning Brown	OF
Buckner	C
Coston	RHP
Slim Embry	RHP
Frank Godchaux	C
Joe Hatcher	C
Hawkins	C
Hi Hightower	C
Huckaby	OF
Doc Kuhn	SS
Lewis	2B
Bunny Luton	OF
Tot McCullough	1B/OF/LHP
McDonald	OF
McDonnell	SS
McGinnis	OF
Bob McNeilly	RHP
Jess Neely	OF
Scotty Neill	SS/2B/INF
Boots Richardson	LHP
Riley	RHP
Rudolph	RHP
Tom Ryan	RHP
Sherrod	RHP
Joe Smith	OF
Paul Stumb	RHP
Julian Thomas	1B
Mims Tyner	C
Williams	OF
Fish Wilson	2B/INF
Wooden	3B
Tobe Woodruf	3B

Statistical leaders

Wins
Slim Embry	9
Boots Richardson	5
Tot McCullough	4

Home Runs
Scotty Neill	13

Postseason awards and honors

Shortstop Doc Kuhn and outfielders Manning Brown and Tot McCullough made All-Southern.^[11]

References

^ "Commodores Claim S.I.A.A. Championship in Baseball". The Houston Post. May 26, 1921. p. 14. Retrieved December 19, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bill Traughber. "The Historic 1921 VU Baseball Team". Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
^ "Sport Chat". Lexington Herald. May 29, 1921.
^ ^a ^b Vanderbilt University (1922). The Commodore. pp. 135–137.
^ "Wildcats Don't Let it Happen Here". Lexington Herald. April 15, 1921.
^ "Benning Loses To Vanderbilt". Columbus Ledger. May 20, 1921.
^ Byrd Douglas (1922). The Science of Baseball: A Text-book of "inside" Baseball Completely Covering Every Department and Phase of Baseball--how to Play and Coach the Game. p. 173.
^ "Princeton Alumni Weekly". 1920.
^ ^a ^b "2 Apr 1921, 7 - Nashville Banner at". Newspapers.com. April 2, 1921. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
^ "3 Apr 1921, 13 - Nashville Banner at". Newspapers.com. April 3, 1921. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
^ "College Baseball". Atlanta Constitution. January 1, 1922. Retrieved March 2, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

[1] "Commodores Claim S.I.A.A. Championship in Baseball". The Houston Post. May 26, 1921. p. 14. Retrieved December 19, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

[B21-2] Bill Traughber. "The Historic 1921 VU Baseball Team". Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2014.

[3] "Sport Chat". Lexington Herald. May 29, 1921.

[YB-4] Vanderbilt University (1922). The Commodore. pp. 135–137.

[5] "Wildcats Don't Let it Happen Here". Lexington Herald. April 15, 1921.

[6] "Benning Loses To Vanderbilt". Columbus Ledger. May 20, 1921.

[7] Byrd Douglas (1922). The Science of Baseball: A Text-book of "inside" Baseball Completely Covering Every Department and Phase of Baseball--how to Play and Coach the Game. p. 173.

[8] "Princeton Alumni Weekly". 1920.

[newspapers.com-9] "2 Apr 1921, 7 - Nashville Banner at". Newspapers.com. April 2, 1921. Retrieved June 5, 2022.

[10] "3 Apr 1921, 13 - Nashville Banner at". Newspapers.com. April 3, 1921. Retrieved June 5, 2022.

[11] "College Baseball". Atlanta Constitution. January 1, 1922. Retrieved March 2, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

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v t e Vanderbilt Commodores baseball
Venues	Curry Field (1892–1926) McGugin Field (1927–2001) Hawkins Field (2002–present)
Rivalries	Tennessee
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National Championships in bold; College World Series appearances in italics