You know the Redbirds and Chicks. But what about the Memphis Turtles? | Know Your 901

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Today's column asks:

Who was the Memphis Turtles baseball team?

The Memphis Redbirds are back in action, and if you’ve been to a game this year or in the last few, you may have spotted a hat in the team’s store that seems pretty out of place.

It’s green and white, with a subtle hexagon pattern, and on the front, a turtle sings some tunes into a microphone. It’s merch for one of the most obscure teams in Memphis history: the Turtles.

The Memphis Turtles originate all the way back in 1907. The bluff city’s baseball team at the time was named the Memphii, both the Latin plural of Memphis and the name for those who lived in the Memphis of ancient Egypt.

The Memphii played at Red Elm Park (later called Russwood Park), and before the 1907 season began, the park had undergone some radical changes. While baseball fields of professional teams today are maintained with surgical precision, it was a lot harder in the early 20th century to keep the fields tidy, especially after heavy rain. Game cancellations due to wet grounds were not uncommon.

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That is, until the Memphii’s business manager, Thomas McCullough, made the decision to create an elevated field. The field sloped down from the pitcher’s mound to the bases and base paths, in a shape which was first described as “turtleback” by The Commercial Appeal in a March 10, 1907, edition.

The field structure was a success, so much so that by January 1908, the majority of the eight teams in Memphis' Southern Association league had adopted the formation. McCullough would be nicknamed “Turtle Tom” for the invention. On Feb. 12, 1908, The Commercial Appeal reported that the Memphii’s name would change to the Turtles, after the field on which they played on.

Unfortunately for the Turtles, an improved name didn’t translate to an improved performance. Though they finished a respectable third in 1908, the following years were unkind to the reptiles. From 1909 to 1914 the Turtles finished eighth, seventh, sixth, fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively, failing to earn a positive win/loss record.

It’s unclear exactly when the Turtles name was sunset. Even into the exhibition games of April 1915, The Commercial Appeal still used the Turtle moniker, yet by the first official game of the season that same month, the team would be referred to as the “Chickasaws.” One unnamed Commercial Appeal reporter expressed his distain for the name change, writing: “There are a great many people who do not approve of the change… As the Turtles the club came into favor and as the Turtles the club will be remembered.”

Well, not exactly.

The Chicks would go on to be far more successful than their predecessor, winning six pennants and one league title before the franchise folded in 1960. The arrival of the Blues in 1968, the Chicks again in 1978, and finally the Redbirds in 1998 have made the Turtles all but a distant memory.

At least they got a pretty cool hat.

Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him atjacob.wilt@commercialappeal.com.