Minor league baseball was not a part of my childhood because there was no minor league baseball in Chattanooga during my formative years. I happened to grow up here during the longest period of time (1965-1976) the city was without a professional baseball team in its 134-year history with the sport.
Since its return in 1976, it has played a considerable role in how I came to do what I do today. I’ll explain.
But first let me say I would hate for other families and children to do without the fun of minor league baseball. Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball recently have held discussions about contracting the number of minor league teams in the game. One of the those mentioned being contracted in an initial report was the Chattanooga Lookouts.
The aging of some facilities and excessive travel concerns have been cited as reasons for the need for contraction, but the bottom line is expenses.
At winter meetings earlier this month, the deputy commissioner of baseball told the Boston Globe the initial list – on which the Lookouts were included – “is out of date and thus wrong,” and that no revised list would be revealed publicly.