On Sept. 10, 1939, Chattanooga Lookouts President Joe Engel pointed a shotgun at his team’s manager and ordered him to affix his signature to the document in front of him. Engel even fired a warning shot in the air, just in case the field boss had any thoughts of declining.
Had that manager, Kiki Cuyler, done such a poor job that Engel was resorting to violence to force Cuyler’s resignation? Actually, it was just the opposite.
The whole scene was part of a celebration that followed the Lookouts sweeping a doubleheader from the New Orleans Pelicans at Engel Stadium to win the Southern Association pennant. The shot Engel fired was a blank, and the document he handed Cuyler was a contract for 1940. The Chattanooga Free Press printed a photo of Cuyler signing the agreement in the next day’s edition.
As for the presence of the shotgun, well, that was just Engel, the master showman, being Engel.