Davis “Sandy” Sandlin was well known for decades in Chattanooga as the somewhat soft-spoken and respected athletic trainer for both the UTC Mocs and the Chattanooga Lookouts.
As was documented in a recent announcement by UTC in Chattanoogan.com, he had more than 100 photos primarily from his years with the Lookouts and which had been in the collection of UTC. They were recently digitized and are now available for the public to peruse online.
The work came about through the efforts of manuscripts archivist Molly Copeland, who with the help of a number of UTC student workers carefully digitized the vintage and aged photos with a trainer’s-like care of attention.
And for her as a Boston Red Sox fan who grew up in the Boston area, the baseball topic added to the sense of enjoyment.
“I came in with some history of baseball but didn’t know much minor league history or baseball history in Chattanooga, so I had a lot of fun with it,” the newer Chattanooga resident said as she sat in her office in the UTC Library.
Late last week, I had a chance to go look at some of the original photos stored in preservation boxes in addition to glancing at them online.
The photos, memorabilia, clippings, and even a baseball program or two date from 1912 to 1987, with most of the photos focusing on the period from the 1930s until the 1960s.
They are vintage, but because they have not been shared much before in such a public manner, they might draw fresh attention like that heralded pitcher or hitter Chattanooga might have coming through the Reds system this spring.
At least UTC officials hope they get some looks.
Titled “Sandy Sandlin Chattanooga Lookouts Photographs,” they were given to UTC by the Chattanooga History Center several years ago when plans for a downtown local history museum by the Tennessee Aquarium did not come to fruition. They had apparently been donated to the center by the family.
Mr. Sandlin’s wife, Eleanor, was a longtime secretary to Lookouts’ owner Joe Engel in addition to being the daughter of noted Central and Baylor coach of yesteryear Jim Rike, and she likely had as much knowledge of the players and places photographed as Mr. Sandlin.
Regardless of how they arrived at UTC, officials think they will be able to disseminate information of interest to everyone from baseball historical researchers to the general Chattanooga public who enjoys going to a few Lookouts games a year.
“For the library, it’s the largest collection we have of Lookouts photos, and the Lookouts have been the city’s team for over 100 years. And it’s wonderful we have this photo collection. It is also special that it’s a collection that was accumulated by someone with both connections to the university and the Lookouts,” said Ms. Copeland, adding one of the photos includes former Mocs coach Scrappy Moore.
According to old newspaper clippings found at the Chattanooga Public Library, Mr. Sandlin had been an average football and track athlete at Chattanooga City High who began working for both the Lookouts and the University of Chattanooga in the 1930s. One or two articles state that Lookouts and Mocs trainer Lee Jensen saw him trying to nurse a bird with an injured wing back to health and knew he was perfect for athletic training.
He became the head trainer of what was then the University of Chattanooga in 1938 after trainer Mickey O’Brien left to take a similar position with the University of Tennessee and coach Robert Neyland. Mr. Sandlin worked with the Lookouts, including being a traveling secretary, until the Lookouts disbanded for about 10 years after the 1965 season. He continued to serve at UTC until the summer of 1975, when he had to retire due to turning 70.
Old newspaper articles point out his genuine care of players and his lack of wanting to be in the spotlight, even though he did have to be in the latter on occasion when honored by such groups as the Chattanooga Exchange Club and Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. One story said he tried to visit Moc player Phil Payne in the hospital for days after a spinal cord injury related to a 1970 swimming accident at Lula Lake away from team practice.
After his retirement from UTC, Mr. Sandlin had joined Baylor School before the football season of 1975 as the trainer and worked there until his sudden death in the summer of 1979 from a heart attack. Despite his seemingly laid back and easy-going manner, at least in his later years, he had also experienced a heart attack before a Mocs’ football game against Xavier in Cincinnati in 1966.
He had also worked at Georgia Tech during World War II when the Mocs did not field a football team. That included the 1943 Sugar Bowl-winning season, when the Yellow Jackets were led by star and Baylor graduate Eddie Prokop, who finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He said in one article that he thought about staying in Atlanta.
I actually had a chance to get to know Mr. Sandlin while a student at Baylor in the 1970s, due in part to the fact I experienced two or three nagging injuries while playing sports there. There, he always seemed likable among the students and staff in a low-key sort of way.
Ms. Copeland – who grew up in the Concord community of Massachusetts, a town known for its Revolutionary War history and as the hometown of noted writer Henry David Thoreau -- said Mr. Sandlin’s seemingly warm manner came out in some of the autographed photos.
“Some of them have sweet messages,” she said. “It’s a very personal collection for him.”
She pointed out that the photo collection includes future Lookouts who had connections to the major leagues, such as Lookouts and future Twins’ manager Cal Ermer and big leaguer George Myatt, and some of the pioneering Hispanic players like Gil Torres of Cuba and the unique baseball personality, Bob Newsom.
There are also several photos of Lookouts head Joe Engel fishing, not all of which have been downloaded, and one of his promotions called “Custer’s Last Stand.” It features a native American Lookouts player, Woody Arkeketa, in those days of less public sensitivity toward that group.
Ms. Copeland, who was educated at Oberlin College in Ohio and Simmons University in Boston, said the latter photo demonstrates Mr. Engel’s creative desire to come up with promotions to get people into the stadium during the Great Depression era.
Among the photos that caught my eye were several of Engel Stadium, and ones of managers Bert Niehoff and Rogers Hornsby, the latter also a great major leaguer. Also in the collection are young East Chattanooga baton twirler Anne Harte Harrison, and major leaguers and onetime Lookouts Al Kvasnak and Greek George, among others.
While some of the players have familiar names but most do not to today’s generation, they all have similar looks of getting to enjoy playing this game of youth into adulthood and getting paid to do it.
I also enjoyed the photos of Engel Stadium during a 1934 flood.
Said Ms. Copeland in trying to sum up the collection, “It’s a great resource for understanding people who made up the team at the time, but it also provides some photos of Engel Stadium.”
The former Lookouts stadium is now owned by UTC, which is debating how or if to preserve it in any way in the future.
Regardless, the memories of the Lookouts have been preserved through the photos of Mr. Sandlin, who apparently had an eye to the future with them, just as he once deftly did with his hands and heart in keeping players ready to play in future games.
As a result, Chattanoogans and others now have an additional insight into this great American pastime as it has been enjoyed in Chattanooga for decades as an important part of the city’s cultural life.
As Ms. Copeland added, “Baseball is a great avenue for learning other parts of history.”
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To access the Sandy Sandlin Lookouts online photo collection, go
here.
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Jcshearer2@comcast.net