Lookouts Who Made It "Big In The Bigs"

  • Monday, April 13, 2015
  • B.B. Branton

The Chattanooga Lookouts are off to an impressive 4-1 start and there is plenty of excitement about the team and  handful of Major League prospects, including Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano on the roster.

 

While the future is bright for these two and others, let's look at former Lookouts who have already made it "Big in the Bigs"

 

Led by hall of famers Harmon Killebrew,Ferguson Jenkins and Burleigh Grimes, this starting nine posted impressive credentials while playing in the Bigs.

 

Pitching Staff: To win, one must have great pitching and one is hard pressed to field a better staff.

 

Jenkins, Grimes and Jim Kaat (16 Gold Gloves) combined for 837 career wins and Homer Bailey has two no-hitters on his resume.

For late inning help there is reliever extraordinaire  Trevof Hoffman and his 600 plus saves

 

Catcher:  Catching this guys on a  daily basis is Jason LaRue who played 12 years with Cincinnati and finished second in hitting in the Southern League (.356) in 1998.

 

1998 teammate Brady Clark is a capable backup who batted .270 and .326 for the Lookouts in 1998, 99. In nine seasons in the Bigs he hit .277 mainly with Milwaukee and his best season was .306 and 13 HRs in 2005.

 

The pitchers will be excited with the strong infield as Killebrew (3B) and Joey Votto (1B N.L. MVP and Gold Glove) are at the corners with Pete Runnels and his two batting titles with the Red Sox (1960, '62) at second base and Cecil Travis (.314 career hitter) at short.

 

The outfield is solid with 1959 A.L. Rookie of the Year in Bob Allison, Adam Dunn and his 462 career round trippers and steady Gil Coan who led the Southern League in hitting in 1945 (.372)

 

The designated hitter Edgar Martinez with his 309 career home runs and .312 batting average. 

 

The bench is solid with 1984 A.L Rookie of the Year in Alvin Davis, Pokey Reese (2B-SS) and his two Gold Gloves and Dwayne Murphy in centerfield and his six Gold Gloves, Kid Elberfield in the infield and any Lookouts team must include outfielder Joe Charboneau (OF) who was 1980 A.L. Rookie of the Year with Cleveland.

 

Managing this guys is in good hands with Cal Ermer and Frank Lucchesi who both led Lookouts teams to pennants and college coaching great Wayne Graham.

 

Managers - Cal Ermer  pennant in 1952  and managed 2 years with Minn. in 1960s  Frank Lucchesi pennant winner in 1961 and  managed 7 yrs in Bigs with 316 wins ...

 

Wayne Graham - played 3B for 1961 champions ... has coached two colleges to NCAA world series titles ... Rice and been head coach for twohas also also will include Rice Univ coach Wayne Graham who played 3B for the '61 Lookouts and has college coach has won 2 college world series (juco and D-I) 

 

 

 Pitchers:

 

FERGUSON JENKINS (19 yrs. Philadelphia, Chicago Cubs)    Hall of Fame ... 284 wins ... 1970 Cy Young Award (24-13) ; 7 20 win seasons

 *Lookouts  1964  10-6 ... 149 Ks

 

BURLEIGH GRIMES (19 yrs; 1916-34 ...Brooklyn, Pittsburgh)  Hall of Fame ... 270 wins ... 5, 20 win seasons

Lookouts:  1913 .. 6-7 record'

 

JIM KAAT   (25 yrs, Washington, Minnesota)  283 wins   16 Gold Gloves ... 3,20-win seasons .... 1-2 in 1965 World Series with Twins

Lookouts  1959  W-L (8-8) ...  4.10 ERA  struck out 19 batters in one game  Southern League record

 

HOMER BAILEY  (9 yrs, Cincinnati) 58-50  has thrown 2 no-hitters; 2012, 2013

* Lookouts (2006) ...  7-1

 

TREVOR HOFFMAN  (18 yrs  San Diego)   601 saves .... 2.87 ERA ... 7-time All-Star ...  2nd in Cy Young balloting in 2006 with 46 saves

*Lookouts  1991 1-0 and eight saves ... ERA, 1.93 ... 1992  3-0 ... ERA, 1.52

 

 

 Catcher - JASON LaRUE - (12 yrs; Cincy, St.L 1999-2010)  ....231 avg ... HRs (96)

*Lookouts 1998 ...   .365 avg (second in the S.L.)...  HRs (14) ... RBIs (82) ... Hits (141) ...

 

 

1B – JOEY VOTTO - Cincinnati Reds – (2007-present) – N.L MVP (2010) … Gold Glove (2011), 4x All-Star (2010-2013) … Canada’s Top Athlete (2010)

* Lookouts (2006) – Southern League MVP (.319, 22 HRs) … led league in five categories … Runs (85), Hits (162), Doubles (46), HR (22), RBIs (77)

 

 

2B - PETE RUNNELS  (14 seasons Senators/Red Sox/Houston) ... 2x All-Star ... 2 batting titles 1960, '62 with Red Sox.  batted .300+ six times .... 1,854 career hits

* Lookouts, 1951 .. .  .356 avg in 74 games ... 100 hits ... 18 doubles  8 triples ...

 

SS CECIL TRAVIS- (12 yrs. with Washington Senators; 1933-1947 minus WWII years; Bronze Star) … .314 career avg., 1,544 hits … 3 All-Star … 7 seasons of .300 avg ….

 

1941 Season What a year ... Ted Williams led A.L.in batting (.406)  Joe DiMaggio was third at .357 and in the middle of his 56 game hitting streak...

 No.2 was former Lookout Cecil Travis .359 ... Travis led league in hits (218) , first in singles (153) and second in triples (19)

 

* Lookouts (1932-33) … in 1932 - batted .352  Hits (203) Doubles (27) … 1933, batted .356 ...Hits (185), Doubles (26) … played 3B with the Looks but most of his MLB career at SS.

 

 

3B – HARMON KILLEBREW – 21 yrs - Washington Senators/Minn. Twins/K.C. Royals (1954-1974) … Hall of Fame … A.L. MVP

(1969) … 13x All-Star … HRs (573), Hits (2,086), RBIs (1,584) … 6x HR Champion

*Lookouts (1957-58) – 1957 All-Star … HRs (29), RBIs (101) … two year totals

 

OF – BOB ALLISON “In The Bigs: Wash. Senators/Minn. Twins 1959-70 … 3x Al-Star … 1959 A.L. Rookie of the Year … Hits (1,281), HRs (256) … 100 RBIs (2x) … led A.L. in Runs (99) in 1963 … guided Twins to 1965 A.L. Pennant and lost to Dodgers in seven games …

 *Lookouts (1957-58) … in 1958, batted 307, Hits (161) 2B (28) 3B (9)

 

OF -  ADAM DUNN (14 yrs with Cincy and 4 others) … 2x All-Star … 20+ HRs (14 years) 462 HRs … 40+ HRs (7 years) ... 1,631 Hits, 1,168 RBIs

*Lookouts ... with the Lookouts on Opening Day 2001 and by July 20 he was playing for Cincinnati and went 1 for 3 in his first game ...

In 39 games for Lookouts - Hits (48), HRs (12), Runs (30),RBIs (31) Batting Avg. (.343) ...

 

OF -   GIL COAN - (11 yrs. Washington Senators, Baltimore)  ... two seasons at .303 ... .254 career average

*Lookouts  1945-46 ... in 1945, led league in batting .372, home runs (16), triples (28) and stolen bases (42)  ...

 

DH  EDGAR MARTINEZ 18 yrs Seattle ... 309 HRS ... .312 batting average .. 7x All-Star

*Lookouts   1985-86   batted  .258 and .270

 

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@Comcast.net

Sports
Mocs Houk Named SoCon Golfer Of The Week
  • 3/27/2024

Chattanooga Mocs senior John Houk claimed this week’s Southern Conference Golfer of the Week honor with an impressive runner-up performance at the General Hackler Championships. The Athens, Tenn., ... more

UTC Homecoming Set For October 26
  • 3/27/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs completed spring drills prior to Spring Break and are now deep into strength and conditioning work ahead of the summer in preparation for the fall season. One highlight to ... more

Chapman's 5 RBIs Lead Vols To Run-Rule Win Over Tennessee Tech
  • 3/27/2024

A five-RBI game from Reese Chapman and impressive group effort from the pitching staff highlighted No. 5/5 Tennessee's 11-1 run-rule victory over in-state foe Tennessee Tech on Tuesday night ... more