The Chattanooga Lookouts have competed as Class AA affiliates of the Los Angeles Dodgers for nine weeks, so there hasn’t been much opportunity for collector’s items to emerge.

Then again, there are those pinstripe uniforms.

Pegged by Lookouts owner Frank Burke before the season to be the primary outfits worn at AT&T Field, the pinstripes quickly gave way to the all-white Dodgers replicas. The Lookouts did not wear pinstripes during last week’s five-game series against Mobile and donned them just once during the May 16-25 homestand.

“I think everybody just likes the all-whites,” right fielder Russ Mitchell said. “The pinstripes are nice, but people feel more comfortable in the all-whites. It’s something the pitchers want. The position players really don’t have much of a say. We’ll come in and the pitchers will want to wear all white, so we’ll wear all white.”

Pitching coach Glenn Dishman began nodding when asked if his guys were that adamant about wearing the whites, which are the lighter uniforms of the two.

“They definitely say that,” Dishman said. “I think the pinstripes look good, but baseball players can be fickle and superstitious. I had times where I picked uniforms and my teammates hated them, but I had won my last three games in them.”

Superstitions have done the pinstripes no favors.

The Lookouts wore pinstripes for their April 14 home opener against Montgomery and lost 9-1. They wore the all-whites the next night and whipped the Biscuits 10-2.

The worst misfortune in the pinstripes occurred May 20, when the Lookouts played Tennessee for first place in the Southern League North Division. Gaby Martinez, who was leading Chattanooga in home runs and RBIs, broke his hand when hit by a pitch and is sitting out more than a month.

He was placed on the disabled list after that 2-0 loss to the Smokies, as was catcher Lucas May, who was equaling Martinez’s .298 batting average.

“Maybe it was an omen,” manager John Valentin said. “I don’t know. They just like the way the whites look, and that’s why we’ve stayed with them.”

Dodgers player development director De Jon Watson lit up recently when discussing the replicas, pointing out that the interlocking “LA” on the sleeve made him feel right at home. About the pinstripes, Watson joked, “We’re not the Cubs.”

Burke said the cost for a jersey-and-pants pinstripe combination was about $75. He wanted the pinstripes as the primary uniform because the popular eyes logo is displayed on the chest, but he isn’t looking for a fight. The eyes are on the sleeve of the Dodgers replicas and on every cap.

“I’ve grown to really like the white ones, and the fact of the matter is that we’re really here for the Dodgers and not to win beauty contests necessarily,” Burke said. “The replica uniforms do look good, and that’s what they like to wear, so I’ve told them to wear what they’re comfortable in. I want them to be happy and joyous and free.”

Said Valentin: “Feeling good goes a long way to playing good. It’s not necessarily the case all the time, but when they feel comfortable and they feel good about themselves, it helps.”

So what will become of the pinstripes? They won’t be up for bid at the club’s annual July 3 auction, but could there be an auction for them later?

“That’s always a possibility,” Burke said. “At the end of the season, depending on where we are with the Dodgers, we’ll revisit that. That might be the best thing to do, so we’ll see.”

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