many of joe engel's famous antics also took place at engel stadium, gaining him the nickname, "the barnum of baseball." in 1931, the new york yankees played an exhibition game at engel stadium against the lookouts. during the game, a 17-year-old girl named jackie mitchell pitched for the lookouts, striking out major league greats lou gehrig and babe ruth. in 1936, a record crowd of 24,624 fans crammed into the park that only held 12,000 seats for the chance of winning a house in the middle of the great depression. the winning ticket was not at the game. on opening day in 1938, joe engel debuted his popular "wild elephant hunt" prior to the game. it was such a success, he took it to ballparks throughout the south.