Randy Smith
I read recently that UTC supposedly has some big plans in store for historic Engel Stadium. The school has owned the property for some time now, but only recently made any kind of announcement regarding the future of one of the grandest old baseball stadiums in the country. UTC is planning to convert the property into an intramural sports complex, though the term, "largely preserved" was used to describe the plans for the actual stadium. Digging deeper into these plans we see that several intramural fields and even a soccer field could be in the works.
Engel Stadium hasn't been the home of the Lookouts since 1999, when Lookouts' owner Frank Burke moved the team to the old Kirkman High School site, which is now AT&T Field.
The new team owners have expressed interest in building a new minor league stadium for the Lookouts to use, even though AT&T Field is less than 20 years old. I'm all for progress, but I always thought AT&T Field was a really good home for the Class AA Lookouts.
While the city fathers and team ownership deal for a new stadium that may or may not happen, I have some thoughts about preserving Engel Stadium. First of all why not bring back college baseball to UTC? Engel Stadium is the perfect place to build a state of the art college baseball facility. That way the actual playing surface and stadium could be preserved and you could add a few intramural fields and you have a sports complex. There is $7.7 million dedicated to this project, though UTC has never wanted to spend the money on a baseball team and school officials always use the "Title IX" factor as a convenient excuse. Don't look for this to happen.
Major League Hall of Famers like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Harmon Killebrew and many more all played at Engel Stadium. In fact, Ruth and Gehrig each struck out at the hands of Chattanoogan Jackie Mitchell, who just happened to be a woman, and they did it at Engel Stadium. There are more memories and great stories to come out of Engel than any place I know. It should be a place for baseball; a place to honor the great history of baseball in our city and not replaced with a soccer field.
Just a few years ago the Southern League started a Hall of Fame. Since Birmingham, Alabama already has the Negro League Museum, honoring the games great African-American players, why not build a Southern League Hall of Fame and Museum here in Chattanooga. A nice museum could be constructed within the walls of Engel Stadium, opening up to a really nice playing facility where high school and other amateur games could be played. And yes, hopefully a home for UTC baseball.
I've called for college baseball to return to our city for years and years, yet no one with any political pull or money seems to be interested. I hope before I leave this earth UTC will once again field a baseball team. I also hope UTC will do something great with Engel Stadium, though at this point in time I have my doubts.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for 30 years. He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga television for more than a quarter-century. In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith. They have five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.
He can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com