Engel’s ML pitching career was ordinary, but it launched him into a baseball role he filled joyously: minor league team owner. Starting in 1930, he was a one-man scouting system and his Chattanooga team (Southern Association) was the top farm club for the Senators. He became the most colorful baseball promoter of his time. He staged elephant hunts, hired a female pitcher to strike out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game, and gave away bizarre and valuable gifts, all to pack people into his ball park.
