farragutpress

Tate still living his baseball dream

July 22, 2026 by Jake Nichols

Jack Tate settled into the Farragut baseball dugout at Siegel High School on Friday, May 22. 

That night, Tate used his iPad to chart the final moments of Farragut’s state championship win over Houston High School.

Forty-three days later, he carried the same iPad into Covenant Health Park.

The pattern is a relatively new one for Tate, who returned to the Knoxville Smokies last year after more than a decade away.

“I was incredibly happy they came back to Knoxville,” Tate said from his perch on Saturday, July 4. “When the construction started, I would drive down here and park at the Shell station every other Sunday, looking down to see what progress they made.”

His sports career began at 13 when he served as a batboy for the Knoxville Sox — then an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox — at Bill Meyer Stadium in 1974.

“The years I was the bat boy were the best years of my life,” Tate added. “I was there for every home game and would sometimes go on the road.”

Tate witnessed several historic moments through 1980, observing Harold Baines’ first steps toward a Hall of Fame career and Tony La Russa’s managerial debut in the minor leagues.

A 1978 Bearden graduate, Tate kept statistics for the baseball and basketball teams in high school. He took an unpaid assistant job in the Bulldogs’ dugout in 1982, beginning a career that would lead to a longtime assistant role and even a state tournament appearance as Bearden’s head coach in 2012.

The Smokies had transitioned through two more big-league clubs by then, moving from the Chicago White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays before settling in with the Chicago Cubs in 2007.

Tate was still in the thick of his Bearden career, keeping statistics while coaching baseball and teaching social studies.

But in 2020, after years wearing maroon, he made the move to Farragut.

“Dr. (John) Bartlett had been my principal at Bearden for 10 years, and we had a great relationship,” Tate said. “When I came over from Bearden seven years ago, I had no clue how they’d accept a former Bearden baseball coach in the dugout. But they were nice from game one.”

So were the Smokies, as Tate experienced several different eras with the team.

He served as official scorer and scoreboard operator from 1991 through 2010, remaining through the team’s transition to Kodak.

“The nice thing in Kodak was the air-conditioned press box,” Tate said. “There was no air conditioning at Bill Meyer. When it got into these months, it would be anywhere from 95 to 105 degrees in the press box.”

Back at BHS, Tate worked under Matt Buckner and witnessed the rise of a young Garrett Copeland — the same one who stands opposite Tate as Farragut head coach today.

When Tate was given the Bearden head-coaching nod the next year, he gave up the Smokies gig except for a couple fill-in games.

But in 2025, he returned to the Smokies for a job in the Bush’s Beans section near left field. 

Before the start of the 2026 season, Tate went to the same job fair and learned he would be in his preferred spot in the press box — just not on the nights when Farragut played.

This summer, he is tasked with one of four roles each night: official scorer, data entry, scoreboard operator and pitch clock operator.

Each job brings a challenge of its own. 

“With official scoring, you have some tough decisions to make,” Tate said. “One night, I had three consecutive batters that were hard scoring plays, so you want to get it right and be fair to both teams. 

“I usually have my iPad, and it’ll be 45 seconds behind, so I can watch a replay. When I do the computer data entry, you have to have every pitch and every play entered before the next pitch is thrown, or you get behind.”

The data entry position required him to watch eight different Major League games, a process he started during Farragut’s state tournament run, and turn in the results for certification.

The same combination of appreciation and focus comes with pitch clock operation.

“It’s never cut-and-dry on when you’re supposed to start it, so you’ve got to watch the umpire and sort of be in his head,” he said.

Tate also is mindful when operating the scoreboard, remembering the frustration of Farragut players when the balls and strikes at their high school games are not correct.

“So I want it to be perfect,” Tate said. “But I enjoy being in the middle of it all. This is a fun team to watch.”

And it’s a fun set of jobs for Tate, who has seen his career grow from the moment he stepped into a professional dugout as a teenager.

“I think 13-year-old me would have been really happy,” Tate said. “I never dreamed I’d be able to stay involved in baseball and didn’t know I’d ever coach, either.”