Nashville Vols awards and league leaders

Bob Lennon led the Southern Association in five categories in 1954 (batting average, hits, runs, RBI, and home runs) and was awarded the Southern Association MVP Award.

The Nashville Vols minor league baseball team played 62 seasons from its creation in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1901 through its final season of 1963. The club played in 9,019 regular season games and compiled a win–loss record of 4,571–4,448 (.507).^[1][2] They had a post-season record of 110–77–1 (.588).^[3][4] This list documents top players in particular statistical areas.

The Nashville Baseball Club was formed as a charter member of the newly organized Class B Southern Association in 1901.^[5] The team did not receive their official moniker, the Nashville Volunteers, until 1908.^[6] However, the team was, and is, commonly referred to as the Vols. Their last season in the Southern Association was 1961. After sitting out the 1962 season, the Vols returned for a final season as a part of the South Atlantic League in 1963.^[7]

Eight Vols players won the Southern Association Most Valuable Player Award, the league's only award. Of the 1,215 players to have played for the Vols, 103 players distinguished themselves by leading the league in statistical categories during a season. Bob Lennon led the Southern Association in five areas in 1954: batting average (.345), hits (210), runs (139), RBI (161), and home runs (64). In 1942, Charlie English led the league in four categories: batting average (.341), hits (217), RBI (139), and doubles (50). In 1943, Ed Sauer led the league in four areas: batting average (.368), runs (113), doubles (51), and stolen bases (30). Twenty-nine other players also led in multiple categories in single seasons.

Five players hold Southern Association records for single-season performances. Les Fleming holds the batting average record (.414 in 1941), Charlie Gilbert the runs record (178 in 1948), Jim Poole the RBI record (167 in 1930), Joe Dwyer the doubles record (65 in 1936), and Bob Lennon the home run record (64 in 1954).

Table key

	Southern Association record
(#)	Tie between two or more players in the league; number indicates total number of players with same performance
*	Indicates a player played with another team in addition to the Vols that season

Award winners

Southern Association MVP

Bob Schultz won the Southern Association MVP Award in 1950.

Eight Vols were awarded the Southern Association Most Valuable Player Award, more than any other team in the league. Nashville players won the award for three years in a row from 1948 to 1950.^[2]

All-time Vols teams

Nashville Banner sportswriters Fred Russell and George Leonard created all-time team lists of the top Nashville players from 1901 to 1919 and from 1920 to 1963.^[16]

1901–1919

Jake Daubert was named first baseman on the 1901 to 1919 all-time team by Fred Russell.

1920–1963

Larry Gilbert was the unanimous choice of both Fred Russell and George Leonard for manager of the 1920 to 1963 all-time team.

League leaders

Batting leaders

Ed Abbaticchio led the league in runs (127) in 1901 and in triples (18) and stolen bases (61) in 1902.

Gus Williams led the league in doubles (33) in 1916.

Kiki Cuyler led the league in stolen bases with 68 in 1923.

Lance Richbourg led the league in doubles (46) and stolen bases (30) in 1933.

Dale Alexander led the league with 42 doubles in 1937.

Hal Jeffcoat led the league in hits (218) in 1947.

Smoky Burgess was the league's batting champion with a .384 batting average in 1948.

Jack Harshman hit 47 home runs in 1957, more than any other player in the league.

These players led all other players in the league in particular statistical batting categories in a single season.

Statistic	Player	Record	Season	Ref
Batting average	Welchonce, HarryHarry Welchonce	.325	1912	[17]
Batting average	Clabaugh, MooseMoose Clabaugh	.378	1931	[17]
Batting average	Clabaugh, MooseMoose Clabaugh	.382	1932	[17]
Batting average	Weintraub, PhilPhil Weintraub	.401	1934	[17]
Batting average	Taitt, DougDoug Taitt	.355	1935	[17]
Batting average	Haas, BertBert Haas	.365	1939	[17]
Batting average	Fleming, LesLes Fleming	.414	1941	[17]
Batting average	English, CharlieCharlie English	.341	1942	[17]
Batting average	Sauer, EdEd Sauer	.368	1943	[17]
Batting average	Burgess, SmokySmoky Burgess	.384	1948	[17]
Batting average	Borkowski, BobBob Borkowski	.376	1949	[17]
Batting average	Barna, BabeBabe Barna	.358	1951	[17]
Batting average	Pless, RanceRance Pless	.364	1952	[17]
Batting average	Taylor, BillBill Taylor	.350	1953	[17]
Batting average	Lennon, BobBob Lennon	.345	1954	[17]
Batting average	Williams, Charles !Charles Williams	.368	1955	[17]
Batting average	Palys, StanStan Palys	.359	1957	[17]
Batting average	Fridley, JimJim Fridley	.348	1958	[17]
Hits	Bennett, PugPug Bennett	166	1904	[18]
Hits	Norcum, Frank !Frank Norcum	157	1905	[18]
Hits	Welchonce, HarryHarry Welchonce	157	1912	[18]
Hits	Rodda, Bill !Bill Rodda	190(2)	1934	[18]
Hits	Taitt, DougDoug Taitt	194	1935	[18]
Hits	Dwyer, JoeJoe Dwyer	194	1936	[18]
Hits	Moser, ArnieArnie Moser	223	1940	[18]
Hits	English, CharlieCharlie English	217	1942	[18]
Hits	Jeffcoat, HalHal Jeffcoat	218	1947	[18]
Hits	Gilbert, TookieTookie Gilbert	197	1949	[18]
Hits	Ludwig, Robert !Robert Ludwig	213	1951	[18]
Hits	Pless, RanceRance Pless	196	1952	[18]
Hits	Lennon, BobBob Lennon	210	1954	[18]
Hits	Williams, Charles !Charles Williams	211	1955	[18]
Runs	Abbaticchio, EdEd Abbaticchio	127	1901	[19]
Runs	Wiseman, Doc !Doc Wiseman	111	1902	[19]
Runs	Norcum, Frank !Frank Norcum	86	1905	[19]
Runs	Partridge, JayJay Partridge	155	1930	[19]
Runs	Rodda, Bill !Bill Rodda	140	1932	[19]
Runs	Dwyer, JoeJoe Dwyer	127	1936	[19]
Runs	Mihalic, JohnJohn Mihalic	124	1942	[19]
Runs	Sauer, EdEd Sauer	113	1943	[19]
Runs	Gilbert, CharlieCharlie Gilbert	178	1948	[19]
Runs	Gilbert, TookieTookie Gilbert	146	1949	[19]
Runs	Boring, Bob !Bob Boring	108	1953	[19]
Runs	Lennon, BobBob Lennon	139	1954	[19]
Runs	Hazle, BobBob Hazle	114	1955	[19]
Runs	Palys, StanStan Palys	116	1957	[19]
Runs batted in	Bernsen, Albert !Albert Bernsen	118	1923	[20]
Runs batted in	Tolson, ChickChick Tolson	143	1925	[20]
Runs batted in	Poole, JimJim Poole	127	1929*	[20]
Runs batted in	Poole, JimJim Poole	167	1930	[20]
Runs batted in	Keyes, Stan !Stan Keyes	147	1932	[20]
Runs batted in	Taitt, DougDoug Taitt	132	1936	[20]
Runs batted in	Dugas, GusGus Dugas	118(2)	1940	[20]
Runs batted in	English, CharlieCharlie English	139	1942	[20]
Runs batted in	Hicks, Mel !Mel Hicks	107	1943	[20]
Runs batted in	Workman, ChuckChuck Workman	182	1948	[20]
Runs batted in	Sawatski, CarlCarl Sawatski	153	1949	[20]
Runs batted in	Lennon, BobBob Lennon	161	1954	[20]
Runs batted in	Coles, ChuckChuck Coles	107	1958	[20]
Doubles	Williams, GusGus Williams	33	1916	[21]
Doubles	Knisely, PetePete Knisely	42	1917	[21]
Doubles	Graf, FredFred Graf	31(2)	1919	[21]
Doubles	Tolson, ChickChick Tolson	44	1925	[21]
Doubles	Richbourg, LanceLance Richbourg	46	1933	[21]
Doubles	Rodda, Bill !Bill Rodda	46	1934	[21]
Doubles	Martin, JoeJoe Martin	45(2)	1935	[21]
Doubles	Dwyer, JoeJoe Dwyer	65	1936	[21]
Doubles	Alexander, DaleDale Alexander	42	1937	[21]
Doubles	English, CharlieCharlie English	50	1942	[21]
Doubles	Sauer, EdEd Sauer	51	1943	[21]
Doubles	Manning, William !William Manning	41	1946	[21]
Doubles	Block, CyCy Block	50	1947	[21]
Doubles	Boring, Bob !Bob Boring	42(2)	1953	[21]
Doubles	Gardner, BillyBilly Gardner	42(2)	1953	[21]
Doubles	Williams, Charles !Charles Williams	44	1955	[21]
Doubles	Corbo, Mel !Mel Corbo	31	1963	[22]
Triples	Abbaticchio, EdEd Abbaticchio	18	1902	[23]
Triples	Wickham, R !R Wickham	14	1919	[23]
Triples	LeBourveau, BevoBevo LeBourveau	20	1923*	[23]
Triples	Alvarez, UltusUltus Alvarez	12	1959	[23]
Home runs	McDonald, TexTex McDonald	8	1919	[24]
Home runs	Wade, RipRip Wade	24	1928	[24]
Home runs	Poole, JimJim Poole	33	1929*	[24]
Home runs	Poole, JimJim Poole	50	1930	[24]
Home runs	Clabaugh, MooseMoose Clabaugh	23	1931	[24]
Home runs	Keyes, Stan !Stan Keyes	35	1932	[24]
Home runs	Prather, Dutch !Dutch Prather	23	1933	[24]
Home runs	Taitt, DougDoug Taitt	17	1935	[24]
Home runs	Taitt, DougDoug Taitt	20(2)	1936	[24]
Home runs	Duke, Willie !Willie Duke	19	1937	[24]
Home runs	Dugas, GusGus Dugas	22(2)	1940	[24]
Home runs	Workman, ChuckChuck Workman	29	1942	[24]
Home runs	Hicks, Mel !Mel Hicks	16	1944	[24]
Home runs	Pawelek, TedTed Pawelek	15	1946	[24]
Home runs	Workman, ChuckChuck Workman	52	1948	[24]
Home runs	Sawatski, CarlCarl Sawatski	45	1949	[24]
Home runs	Harshman, JackJack Harshman	47	1951	[24]
Home runs	Lennon, BobBob Lennon	64	1954	[24]
Home runs	Hazle, BobBob Hazle	29	1955	[24]
Stolen bases	Abbaticchio, EdEd Abbaticchio	61	1902	[25]
Stolen bases	Callahan, DaveDave Callahan	54	1914	[25]
Stolen bases	Cuyler, KikiKiki Cuyler	68	1923	[25]
Stolen bases	Richbourg, LanceLance Richbourg	30	1933	[25]
Stolen bases	Brewster, CharlieCharlie Brewster	20	1942	[25]
Stolen bases	Sauer, EdEd Sauer	30	1943	[25]
Stolen bases	Nicholas, DonDon Nicholas	16	1957	[25]

Pitching leaders

Hub Perdue led the league in wins (23) in 1909.

Heinie Berger led the league with 310 innings pitched in 1914.

Tom Rogers co-led the league with 24 wins in 1916.

By Speece led the league in wins (22) in 1936.

These players led all other players in the league in particular statistical pitching categories in a single season.

Notes

• ^a Greek George and Emil Mailho of the Atlanta Crackers were named Co-MVPs in 1940.^[2]

References