KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A former Tennessee Baseball player said he has not seen his team win a national championship during his 98 years of life. But this season, the Vols returned to Knoxville with a national title and fans across Knoxville celebrated their win.
"It's just amazing. That's all you can say for it," said Jim Worthington, the former player. "My home was in Knoxville, Tennessee. I was born four blocks from The Hill, as we called it in those days."
He said after World War II, he applied to attend the University of Tennessee. However, he struggled at first to secure his attendance because he lived out of state, in Alabama. He reached out to a Tennessee legend for help — General Neyland.
"Being an out-of-state student, I was not eligible and, 'I just wanted to come and speak to you and tell you something about my wishes for Tennessee acceptance,'" he said. "He said, 'Well, if General Neyland said take you in, you are officially a Tennessee boy.' And, then that's what got me in."
He played baseball for UT in the 1940s. He was a catcher and played for the Vols in 31 games. At that time, baseball was not as common a sport as programs like football.
"In those days, every school, every school, had advantages that Tennessee didn't have," he said. "Baseball was just an oddity at Tennessee in those years."
He said the program has grown a lot since the time that he played, and said legends of the past like himself laid the foundation for where the university's baseball program is now.
"Lindsey Nelson today would be proud of Tennessee's progress in baseball," he said.
He turns 99 years old in around two months, an achievement as special as the Vols' national championship win.