Chattanooga Lookouts

The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home games at AT&T Field which opened in 2000 and seats 6,340 fans.[2] They previously played at Engel Stadium from 1930 through 1999, with a one-year break in Montgomery, Alabama's Cramton Bowl in 1943.[3][4]

Chattanooga Lookouts Founded in 1885 Chattanooga, Tennessee
Team logo Cap insignia
Minor league affiliations
Class	Double-A (1885–present)
League	Southern League (1964–1965; 1976–present)
Division	North
Previous leagues	South Atlantic League (1963) Southern Association (1901–1902; 1910–1943; 1944–1961) Southern League (1885–1886, 1889, 1892–1893, 1895)
Major league affiliations
Team	Cincinnati Reds (2019–present)
Previous teams	Minnesota Twins (2015–2018) Los Angeles Dodgers (2009–2014) Cincinnati Reds (1988–2008) Seattle Mariners (1983–1987) Cleveland Indians (1978–1982) Oakland Athletics (1976–1977) Philadelphia Phillies (1960–1961; 1963–1965) Washington Senators (1932–1959)
Minor league titles
Dixie Series titles (1)	1932
League titles (3)	1988 2015 2017
Pennants (4)	1932 1939 1952 1961
Division titles (7)	1988 1992 1995 1996 2014 2015 2017
First half titles (5)	1976 1988 1992 2015 2017
Second half titles (9)	1992 1994 1995 1996 2004 2011 2012 2014 2017
Team data
Nickname	Chattanooga Lookouts (1885–present, except 1943) Montgomery Rebels (1943)
Colors	Red, black, white
Ballpark	AT&T Field (2000–present)
Previous parks	Engel Stadium (1930–1999) Cramton Bowl (1943)
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	Hardball Capital Group (John Woods and Jason Freier)[1]
Manager	Ricky Gutiérrez
General Manager	Rich Mozingo

History

In 1906, Oliver Burnside "O.B." Andrews, owner of the Andrews Paper Box Company, took ownership of a franchise in the South Atlantic League relocating the Single-A team to Chattanooga. The team adopted the name Lookouts in 1909 after a fan contest.[5] The following year Andrews purchased the Double A Southern Association franchise from Little Rock and relocated 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 close to a hundred years.

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 with the Lookouts beating the Atlanta Crackers 6-5 in front of approx. 16,000 fans.[6]

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.[7] This has been rebutted here,[8] and directly contradicts a profile of Mitchell published a few months later.[9] 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.[10]

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 miles (378 km) away, citing a decline in attendance.[4] (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.[11]

The team, which plays in the Southern League, has been the Double-A affiliate of a major league ballclub since 1932. From 1988 through 2008, the Lookouts were the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.[3] For the 2009 through 2014 seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers served as the parent club.[12][13][14] 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.

It was announced on September 25, 2018, that the Lookouts would resume their affiliation with the Reds.[15]

In November of 2019, Major League Baseball released a proposal to sever ties with 42 minor-league teams, including the Lookouts and fellow AA teams Erie SeaWolves and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. At least some of the 42 teams are expected to cease operations if they lose their major-league affiliations.[16][17]

Television and radio

Only Chattanooga Lookouts away games are televised on MiLB.TV. Since 2016, all Chattanooga Lookouts games are broadcast on 96.1 The Legend.[18] Larry Ward is the lead broadcaster. Lookouts games were broadcast on WDOD (1310 AM) until the 2011 season.[19] From 2011 to 2015, games were broadcast on WALV-FM (105.1 FM, "ESPN Chattanooga").

Roster

Chattanooga Lookouts roster

Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 47 Brandon Finnegan 32 Tyler Jay 27 Packy Naughton 25 Reiver Sanmartin 46 Jesse Stallings 36 Wyatt Strahan		Catchers 19 Chris Okey Infielders 28 Brantley Bell  6 Alberti Chavez 16 Jonathan India 45 Ibandel Isabel 15 Gavin LaValley Outfielders 39 Michael Beltre  4 Stuart Fairchild  6 T. J. Friedl		Manager -- Ricky Gutiérrez Coaches -- Seth Etherton (pitching) -- Lenny Harris (bench) 31 Daryle Ward (hitting) 7-day injured list * On Cincinnati Reds 40-man roster # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporary inactive list Roster updated November 23, 2019 Transactions → More rosters: MiLB • Southern League → Cincinnati Reds minor league players

Retired numbers

• 26 – Dernell Stenson, OF, 2003

References

1. http://www.chattanoogan.com/2015/3/3/295255/Lookouts-Sold-By-Frank-Burke-To.aspx
3. Paschall, David (December 7, 2010). "Burke may have to sell Lookouts". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
4. The Old Scout (July 16, 1943). "Senators shift Lookout franchise" (PDF). New York Sun. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
5. Martini, Stephen. The Chattanooga Lookouts & 100 Seasons of Scenic City Baseball. Lulu Press, Inc. pp. Chapter 2.
6. Sprayberry, Noble (2015). "LOOKING BACK AT THE LOOKOUTS". CityScope.
7. The Pinstripe Press : Jackie Mitchell – The Pride of the Yankees on Baseball Almanac
8. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/18/the-myth-of-jackie-mitchell-the-girl-who-struck-out-ruth-and-gehrig.html
9. 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)
10. "Dixie Title Captured By Chattanooga Club". The Bristol News Bulletin. Bristol. September 28, 1932. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Jenkins, David (2005). Baseball in Chattanooga. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738542140.
12. Paschall, David (August 6, 2010). "Dodgers extend Lookouts deal to '14". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
13. "Dodgers Notebook: Affiliations Are Changing". Los Angeles Daily News. September 18, 2008. p. C5.
14. Chattanooga Lookouts baseball team to partner with Minnesota Twins
15. https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/breakingnews/story/2018/sep/25/lookouts-reunite-reds/479760/
16. Times, The New York (2019-11-19). "The Minor League Teams That Could Lose M.L.B. Ties". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
17. Barry, Dan (2019-11-16). "Across the Country, Minor League Towns Face Major League Threat". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
18. "Lookouts Announce Radio Deal".
19. "Sponsorships". Chattanooga Lookouts. February 7, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2010.

External links

• Chattanooga Lookouts official site