The Chattanooga Lookouts & 100 Seasons of Scenic City Baseball - Softcover

Martini, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0557279275 ISBN 13: 9780557279272

Publisher: Lulu.com, 2005

Synopsis

This isn't just A story - it's OUR story! The story of hall-of-fame players, legendary promotions, record-setting nights, lonely days, love, loss, charity and championships! Don't miss another second - step up to the plate and join hundreds of thousands of fans already cheering for a tradition unlike any other -- Chattanooga Lookouts baseball!! Featuring the true story of Jackie Mitchell, as seen on the FSN documentary "Amazing Sports Stories" produced by Red Line Films!

About this title

From the Publisher:

Preface You won’t find the story of a minor league baseball team in statistics. The win-loss columns of the newspaper don’t tell the tales of legendary days at the park or outstanding promotions. Rather, the story of minor league baseball lies within the fans that continue to support teams whose rosters change sometimes week-to-week. It lies within the players, striving for years in the Bush Leagues for just one crack of the bat in the majors. It lies within the hopes of every team owner, struggling to win the ongoing battle for America’s rapidly diminishing attention span. Competing against cable television, air conditioning, and days at the lake for but a few hours of time spent lavishing in the presence of our national pastime.

The story is in the hearts of every eight-year-old boy holding a hot dog, a Coke, a large foam finger, and a baseball cap donning the logo of the hometown team. In almost every city, the story is the same. The same game adored by the same type of people on the same sunny summer days that make you wish, in that fleeting moment, you were a child again.

I’ve watched the story unfold all my life. Sitting by my Dad, baseball glove in my hand eagerly watching the field for any chance at catching a fly ball while cheering the Triple-A Tacoma Tigers and Salt Lake City Buzz, and the Pioneer League Ogden Raptors. When I grew up and got married, I introduced my wife to the game as we rooted for the Single A Kinston Indians.

But the greatest story of the greatest game lies in the heart of Chattanooga, wound tightly within the fabric of one of the oldest baseball leagues in the nation.

Today, I take my own son to cheer the Lookouts at BellSouth Park. I cheer them today for where they’re going. I cheer them for where they’ve been because I know the story.

The story of one of the greatest baseball promoters in the history of the game.

The story of nine members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The story of devoted fans, stunning upsets, saving graces, and unimaginable heartbreaks.

The story of empty stands and record crowds, golden ages and dark clouds, bench-clearing brawls and wedding bells, die-hard fans and championship seasons, and legendary players, both bragged on and banned.

I’ll tell you the story of the Chattanooga Lookouts – arguably one of the most significant ball clubs in the history of this nation – the way the Lookouts have always told their story. Not through statistics, wins and losses, batting or earned run averages. Rather through their stories of one hundred seasons spent entertaining generations of fans in the same way they’ll continue to entertain in the Scenic City of the South for generations to come.

Grab a Coke and a hot dog, or some Crackerjacks. Find a seat down one of the baselines, just out of the sun and settle in; the game is about to begin.

From the Author:

Writing a book like this – trying to piece together the events of the past 125 years and 100 seasons of Chattanooga baseball – is a huge undertaking that is summed up best by author Leo Rosten, who said, "The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can’t help it."

First and foremost, thanks God. He sees all; He knows all; and without Him I’m as effective as a sack of leaves on the curb in November.

Thank you to my wife, Tina, and son, Zachary, for loving a writer and spending your days, nights, weekends, and holidays reading about, talking about, and hearing about the Chattanooga Lookouts. I promise I’m done talking about my books ... until the next one.

Thanks to my dad and mom, Tony and Tonya Martini, for encouraging a geeky first-grader to read and write ... then making me go outside and play ball with my brother like a normal kid when all I wanted to do was shut myself in my room with my nose in a book.

Thanks, Hillis Layne and Roy Hawes, two true gems in Lookouts history, for their willingness to share their stories with me and their winning attitudes and abilities with Chattanooga.

Thanks, Frank Burke, for continuing to share the vision of Chattanooga Lookouts baseball – and mine.

Thanks, Jonathan Guy, for dominating the camera lens and producing such high quality photos for my words to rest between.

Thanks to the entire staff at BellSouth Park for being helpful each and every time I wandered through the door to the front office for yet another interview, or throughout the stadium in pursuit of the perfect picture. Further, I am eternally grateful and humbled you cleared some space on a shelf in your gift shop for my labor of love and consuming passion – this little book.

About this edition

• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0557279275
• ISBN 13: 9780557279272
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 284