Chattanooga Lookouts

History

In 1908, Oliver Burnside "O.B." Andrews, owner of the Andrews Paper Box Company, Garnett Carter, and a third unidentified party took ownership of a franchise in the South Atlantic League, moving the Single-A team to Chattanooga. The team adopted the name Lookouts in 1909 after a fan contest. The following year, Andrews purchased the Double A Southern Association franchise from Little Rock and moved them to Chattanooga. The team began playing on Andrews Field in the 1100 block of East 3rd Street, which would remain the site of their home stadium for nearly a century.

Joe Engel bought the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1926 and opened Engel Stadium in 1930 on the site of Andrews Field. The first game in the new stadium was played April 15, 1930; the Lookouts beat the Atlanta Crackers, 6-5, before some 16,000 fans.

In 1931, the New York Yankees played an exhibition game against the Lookouts. During the game, a 17-year-old girl named Jackie Mitchell pitched for the Lookouts and struck out Major League greats Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Many reports of this story include a footnote claiming that a few days after the game, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis voided Mitchell's contract, claiming that baseball was "too strenuous" for women. This has been rebutted here, and directly contradicts a profile of Mitchell published a few months later. MLB didn't introduce a ban on contracts for female players until June 21, 1952 (which was repealed in 1992).

After winning the 1932 Southern Association pennant, the Lookouts won the Dixie Series, a postseason interleague championship between the champions of the Southern Association and the Texas League, defeating the Beaumont Exporters, 4–1, in the best-of-seven series.

During owner Joe Engel's tenure, the Lookouts won four championships – three with the Southern Association and a fourth with the South Atlantic League. Engel led a charge to own the Lookouts privately, with the help of several hundred fans as shareholders from 1938 to 1942. In 1939, as a privately owned franchise under coach Kiki Cuyler, the Lookouts claimed a championship. In 1943, the Lookouts played at Montgomery, Alabama's Cramton Bowl as the Montgomery Rebels after the Washington Senators moved the Lookouts from Chattanooga to Montgomery, some 235 mi away, citing a decline in attendance. (The original Montgomery Rebels team had folded due to World War II in 1943 and would return to Montgomery in 1946 in the now-defunct Southeastern League.) The Lookouts managed to move back to Chattanooga in December of that year after Engel organized a letter-writing campaign aimed at Clark Griffith, the owner of the Senators at the time.

The team, which plays in the Southern League, has been the Double-A affiliate (or its equivalent) of a major league ballclub since 1932. From 1988 through 2008, the Lookouts were the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. For the 2009 through 2014 seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers served as the parent club. In affiliating with the Twins in 2015, the Lookouts rekindled a relationship with the franchise that, as the 1901–1960 edition of the Washington Senators, spent the longest period as its parent team. For much of that earlier stint, the Lookouts were the Senators' top farm team despite being at a classification two steps below the majors.

It was announced on September 25, 2018, that the Lookouts would resume their affiliation with the Reds.

In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Lookouts were organized into the Double-A South in which they continued as an affiliate of the Reds. In 2022, their league retook an earlier name, the Southern League.

On July 15, 2024, the team and local officials broke ground on the $115 million Erlanger Park in the South Broad Street area. The ballpark will be constructed on the site of the former U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry. The ballpark will be flanked by I-24 as it runs along Nickajack Lake.

Television and radio

Chattanooga Lookouts games are televised on MiLB.TV. Since 2016, all games are broadcast on 96.1 The Legend. Larry Ward is the lead broadcaster. Lookouts games were broadcast on WDOD (1310 AM) until the 2011 season. From 2011 to 2015, games were broadcast on WALV-FM (105.1 FM, "ESPN Chattanooga"). Lookouts games have been broadcast on WLND 98.1 The Lake since the 2019 season.

Mascot

The Chattanooga Lookouts' mascot is Looie the Lookout. He is an anthropomorphized version of the team's logo.

Roster

Retired numbers

• 26 – Dernell Stenson, OF, 2003

Season-by-season records

• 2021: 58–54

• 2022: 61–75

• 2023: 70–67

• 2024: 45–90

References

References

1. (3 March 2015). "Lookouts Sold By Frank Burke To Hardball Capital - Chattanoogan.com".
2. "Grand Junction Rockies".
3. The Old Scout. (July 16, 1943). "Senators shift Lookout franchise". New York Sun.
4. Martini, Stephen. "The Chattanooga Lookouts & 100 Seasons of Scenic City Baseball". Lulu Press, Inc.
5. Sprayberry, Noble. (2015). "LOOKING BACK AT THE LOOKOUTS".
6. (18 May 2013). "The Myth of Jackie Mitchell, the Girl Who Struck Out Ruth and Gehrig".
7. Atlanta Constitution June 27, 1931. Profile of Jackie Nitchell. Her father notes the 3,000 miles of travel and 32 games pitched so far (summer 1931) for the Chattanooga Junior Lookouts (her only contract until 1933)
8. (September 28, 1932). "Dixie Title Captured By Chattanooga Club". The Bristol News Bulletin.
9. Jenkins, David. (2005). "Baseball in Chattanooga". Arcadia Publishing.
10. [http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/sep/17/lookouts-with-twins/ Chattanooga Lookouts baseball team to partner with Minnesota Twins]
11. (25 September 2018). "Lookouts to reunite with Cincinnati Reds {{!}} Chattanooga Times Free Press".
12. Mayo, Jonathan. (February 12, 2021). "MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues".
13. (March 16, 2022). "Historical League Names to Return in 2022".
14. (2025-05-22). "New Lookouts Stadium Is Erlanger Park".
15. (2024-07-15). "Chattanooga Lookouts stadium groundbreaking draws hundreds {{!}} Chattanooga Times Free Press".
16. (21 March 2016). "Lookouts Announce Radio Deal".
17. [https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/184002/chattanooga-lookouts-move-to-wlnd-98-1-the-lake Chattanooga Lookouts Move to WLND (98.1 The Lake)]
18. Hill. (December 24, 2023). "The Quirkiest Mascots From Across the Minors".
19. "2021 Chattanooga Standings".
20. "2022 Second Half Standings".
21. "2023 Second Half Standings".
22. "2024 Second Half Standings".
23. [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/aubrecht8.shtml The Pinstripe Press : Jackie Mitchell – The Pride of the Yankees on Baseball Almanac]
24. Paschall, David. (August 6, 2010). "Dodgers extend Lookouts deal to '14". [[Chattanooga Times Free Press]].
25. Paschall, David. (December 7, 2010). "Burke may have to sell Lookouts". [[Chattanooga Times Free Press]].
26. (September 18, 2008). "Dodgers Notebook: Affiliations Are Changing". [[Los Angeles Daily News]].
27. (February 7, 2008). "Sponsorships". Chattanooga Lookouts.