Ellington

To owner Frank Burke, who has obsessed over his Chattanooga Lookouts for the past 16 years, baseball evokes rare childhood memories when he had his father — a former CEO of ABC Broadcasting — all to himself. The nostalgia for those special summer nights underlies his commitment to the traditions and affordability of minor league baseball.

“As hokey as it sounds, we believe in its wholesome value,” says Burke, 49, who attributes a bizarre sense of humor to his incessant search for unique marketing promotions. “Everything we do here, and every silly idea I come up with is designed to at least elicit a smile.”

Burke’s quirkiness is everywhere. Business cards identifying him as president of the Chattanooga Lookouts include the title, “Director of Global Expansion.” Eight plaques at the ballpark identify “J. Frank Burke” as either Employee of the Month or Employee of the Year—Burke hung them up himself. “Sometimes though, people think I’m really a jerk for naming myself that,” he says.

In November, Burke will co-chair the March of Dimes Gourmet Gala at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The annual event is a benefit for the March of Dimes, a nonprofit devoted to the health of babies and their mothers.

Burke says infant mortality and premature births are close to his heart. His youngest child, Jeff, was premature, spending the first 11 days of his life in a neonatal intensive care unit. Now 17 and a strapping 6-foot-4-inches, Jeff directly benefited from treatments made possible with funding from the March of Dimes, notes Burke. “Without the efforts of people behind the March of Dimes, babies born with their lungs underdeveloped, like Jeff, would not survive,” he says.

Fidgeting with a couple of stray paper clips, Burke quips he’s got a “pretty significant” case of adult attention-deficit disorder, a condition tied to his perfectionism. “Owning your own business means you’re here all the time,” he says during an interview at AT&T Field, his golden retriever, Billie, at his side. “I don’t view it as a job. On my worst day here, I still love what I do.”

Burke grew up just outside New York City. He studied political science at Middlebury College in Vermont prior to a stint as a production assistant at ABC Sports. “That was a great experience, when you’re 23 years old and directionless, which I was,” says Burke.

He went on to study business at Harvard Business School before working for General Mills, marketing products like fruit drinks. He bought and operated two radio stations in Maine before purchasing the Lookouts in 1995 with two partners, including his father. He’s now sole owner.

Last year the Lookouts became an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, after 21 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. The team winds up its 2010 season this month on the road.

One of his best moves as Lookouts owner, says Burke, meant leaving Engel Stadium and building the current facility atop what was formerly Hawk Hill.

“It was the most difficult decision to make because there was so much history and so many people who really enjoyed Engel Stadium,” he adds. “It was scary because we were risking $10 million on a hill in a city we weren’t from. Thankfully, people believed in it and I haven’t had to get a real job since.”

Chattanooga has been an easy fit for Burke. “You can be very happy anywhere, and you can be very miserable anywhere,” he says.

Though Burke enjoys golf and riding a Lookouts-themed Harley in his free time, he says there’s no greater satisfaction than reveling in the fruits of his labor. The best time, he says, is when the ballpark is full—after the sun has gone down and the Lookouts score. “When I hear people screaming, that to me is the coolest thing.”

GOURMET GALA

When: Saturday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.

Where : Chattanooga Convention Center

Admission: $500, with table sponsorships available

Why: To benefit the nonprofit March of Dimes, which focuses on improving babies’ and women’s health

Call: 423-267-7172