Two legendary Chattanooga Lookouts figures, Joe Engel and Sal Rende, are among the Southern League Hall of Fame’s four-member class for 2019.
Rende spent parts of the 1978 through 1982 seasons with the Lookouts and was Chattanooga’s manager in 1987. He set a league record during the 1978 season by recording the most putouts (1,292) for a first baseman, and he came back in 1979 to post a .322 batting average. In 540 career games with the Lookouts, Rende amassed 87 home runs and 328 RBIs.
From left to right, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Mitchell, Joe Engel and Babe Ruth stand together in this undated photo.Engel is entering the Southern League Hall of Fame via the special consideration ballot and is being recognized for his tenure as Lookouts president. A former scout and promoter, Engel was named Minor League Baseball’s “King of Baseball” in 1960. He died in Chattanooga in 1969 at the age of 76.
Joe Engel, right, the namesake of Engel Stadium, stands with an unidentified man in front of Engel’s homing pigeon house in this undated photo.Already representing the Lookouts in the Southern League Hall of Fame, which inducted its inaugural class in 2014, are former owner Frank Burke (2014 inductee), former pitcher Trevor Hoffman (2015), former third baseman Harmon Killebrew (2015), former manager Razor Shines (2015) and current broadcaster Larry Ward (2016).
The newest inductees will be recognized in June prior to the Southern League All-Star Game in Biloxi, Mississippi.