Jerry Summers
Organized baseball has had several characters in its long history since Abner Doubleday founded the game but the two zaniest characters were Bill Veeck of the Chattanooga White Sox and Joe Engel of the Chattanooga Lookouts.
With the developers pushing for a new baseball stadium on the Southside near the river Chattanooga may have three homes for one of the oldest baseball franchises in the country - before the wrecking ball destroys two present ballparks.
It is too late to help Kirkman Vocational High School as it fell with the construction of AT&T Stadium on Hawk Hill. Historic Engel Stadium appears to be the most likely target for the ever-expanding alleged needs of Erlanger Medical Center and with the need for more medical facilities with the present Covid-19 pandemic the hallowed ground on Third Street may also become an icon of the past. The stadium is now owned by UTC.
We can only speculate about what the “Barnum of the Bushes” would have to say about the present threat to his beloved temple of entertainment. Joe Engel was born on March 12, 1893, in Washington, D.C. As a right-handed pitcher he spent nine seasons in baseball with 1913 and 1914 with the Washington Senators where he acquired a record of 17 wins against 23 losses. After suffering a sore arm, his career was over at the age of 27.
Much has been written about Engel’s career as a scout and the development of his relationship with Clark Griffin, the Senators manager and subsequent owner of the club. Engel became close friends with legendary pitcher Walter “Big Train” Johnson and they bonded over a mutual love of fox hounds.
Griffith eventually appointed Engel as the clubs first full-time scout and he successfully served in that capacity for 10 years. He was credited with signing most of the talent that led to Washington winning pennants in 1924, 1925 and 1933, including future Hall of Fame inductee Joe Cronin.
Engel also had a vaudeville act in the off season with the two Senators pitchers, Al Schardt and Nick Altrock, whose baseball comedy act lasted much longer than their playing careers. In 1929 he and Clark Griffith schemed to buy the Chattanooga franchise in the Class A Southern League. Griffith had previously attempted to buy the Atlanta Crackers but was turned down. As a result, Engel acted as a straw man and buyer of record of the Chattanooga team.
Chattanooga welcomed Engel and his team with open arms. He spent $180,000 to build the present stadium to seat about 10,000 fans. With Engel’s zany tactics more than 17,000 fans exceeded the grandstand capacity on Opening Day in 1930. His use of promotional events was limitless and the limited space in this article does not adequately describe his efforts which are legendary and justify further review by Googling his name and that of the Chattanooga Lookouts. A seven-page article by Warren Corbell under “Joe Engel/Society for American Baseball Research” is particularly informative.
Among the stunts put on was his re-signing of 17-year-old left-handed female pitcher Jackie Mitchell who struck out both Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth in 1931 after Engel signed her to a minor league contract. It was declared invalid the next day by baseball Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis. Mitchell claimed her pitching to the Sultan of Swat and the Iron Horse was legitimate but Engel would later admit that was a “hoax” and that Ruth and Gehrig agreed to go along with the stunt. Also, in 1931 Engel traded a shortstop to Charlotte for a 25-pound turkey which he cooked and fed to sportswriters. When asked about the sale Engel quipped, “The turkey was having a better season.”
Opening Day every year brought some type of fascinating extravaganza. Every April schools closed for students to attend. One year Engel re-enacted Custer’s Last Stand but this time Custer won the battle. On May Day in 1936 Engel put on his most successful stunt giving away a house before 24,639 fans which also included a car in the garage. Because of concern over the fans safety who were crowded on the sideline, Engel froze the baseballs to make sure they were too heavy to knock one into the crowd.
“Cash & Carry” was a popular annual event. An armored car dumped piles of mostly nickels and a selected fan got to keep all he could scoop up in a designated period of time. Later Clark Griffith appointed his nephew, Calvin Griffith, as the new president of the Lookouts and he did not believe in Engel’s outrageous promotions. As a result, attention dropped considerably and Engel prevailed on Clark to sell him the Lookouts if he could raise the money by selling $5.00 shares.
With Engel’s popularity with the fans 1,200 bought stock worth $30,000 in two months. Engel put in $47,000 of his own money and Griffith rewarded him with a $25,000 bonus to support the local ownership of the Lookouts. As a result of the campaign to raise money for stock purchases, Engel planned to put on the biggest promotion on Opening Day in the history of the franchise. Engel intended to conduct an elephant hunt which aroused the opposition of the local Humane Society. With the advent of television, minor league attendance dropped and Chattanooga didn’t escape the decline. The last big year with strong attendance was the pennant winning team of 1952 with 252,000 fans attending the games.
Refusing to integrate the Southern League by using black players, the league folded in 1961. Sitting empty in 1962, the club formed an alliance with the Philadelphia Phillies as a member of the Double A South Atlantic League.
Joe Engel contributed much to the Chattanooga community. During the 1929 Depression he fed 11,000 fans for free and used the stadium as a soup kitchen and warehouse. At Christmas he purchased 7,500 board games featuring his former teammate and friend Walter Johnson in order that needy children would have a Merry Christmas.
One of his most popular creations was the Joe Engel’s Knothole Gang which had their own special section of seats inside the ballpark. The only requirements for free admission to the Lookouts games were good grades and regular attendance at church and school.
Organized baseball left Chattanooga in 1966. Joe Engel died in 1969 “still striving daily to keep the eyes of the national baseball world focused on Chattanooga.” Whether his cause of death was medical or a broken heart due to the demise of his beloved Lookouts remains unknown.
His forgotten memory deserves the preservation of “the house that Joe Engel built.” The efforts of the Engel Foundation in that direction deserves the community's support to avoid the wrecking ball demolishing another historical treasure.
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Jerry Summers
(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com
Joe Engel