Lookouts Baseball Team Collection, ca. 1945
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APPRAISER:
Well, Phil, we're always talking about the Yankees, we're always talking about New York baseball, but today, we get to talk about Tennessee baseball...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And the Lookouts, and your dad.
GUEST:
My dad played for the Lookouts in the late '40s, uh for Joe Engel, when he was 17 years old, and then uh played for the Lookouts for a few years before going into the military. Everybody knew him by Lefty, because he was a left-handed pitcher.
APPRAISER:
It meant a lot to him. Kept the uniform, kept the glove.
GUEST:
Yes. That glove is probably mid-'40s, I would say, and the glove actually also went to the Korean War with him. He played with it with the Green Waves.
APPRAISER:
Well, do you know much about Joe Engel?
GUEST:
Uh, just from what my dad told me about, you know, what a great entrepreneur he was, and, and promotion-- I know one time, my dad told me he gave away a house...
APPRAISER:
Yes, he did.
GUEST:
...uh at, at one of the games, and they actually had so many people that they actually had people standing in the outfield, behind the outfield.
APPRAISER:
Well, Joe Engel was known as the Barnum of baseball...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
...in his era; the Baron of Baloney.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
He was one of the world's greatest promoters. He not only gave away the house, where he had about 25,000 people...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
...at the height of the Depression in 1936. He was also known to trade a shortstop, Johnny Jones, to Charlotte for a turkey.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And then he said he got the worst of the deal...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
...because the turkey was tough. (laughs) So you came to the ball park, and Joe Engel entertained you. Now, your dad didn't make it into the hall of fame...
GUEST:
No, he didn't.
APPRAISER:
And minor league baseball's g... generally not hugely collected, but I would think that someone from Chattanooga who appreciates the history of the Lookouts and Engel would pay probably somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000 for this.
GUEST:
Wow. Wow.
APPRAISER:
But... But I...
GUEST:
They can't have it.
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