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 Hap The Man |
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HAP THE MAN
Dumont- the man...the promoter
Raymond Harry "HAP" Dumont didn't like baseball.
He loved baseball. Born in Wichita in 1904, "HAP" spent his life there. It was while selling baseballs, bats and mitts in the sporting goods department of Goldsmith's that "HAP" got the idea for a National Baseball Congress. He never let go of that dream and in 1931 it became a reality.
Established as an annual Kansas non-professional tournament, the NBC was all things to all players. For the young prospects it was a springboard to professional stardom; to the sandlotter it represented an arena in which he could compete with others of equal talent. To the former pros, the NBC was a place to spend the twilight summers of their careers.
Today, the NBC is one of the most respected baseball operations in the world with teams from Alaska to Alabama, California to Conneticut and points in between, meeting annually in Wichita for the National Tournament.
"HAP" Dumont died of a sudden heart attack in 1971. In 1978 Lawrence Stadium - the stadium "HAP" built - was renamed Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
But if not for him, the NBC might not be what it is today. It was Dumont who came up with idea after idea after the NBC was founded.
Dumont founded the national tournament almost by accident. He started the operation hoping it would help his sporting goods sales.
In time, though, Dumont realized a national tournament would work.
And so he pressed on, starting with his first tourney -in 1935- by convincing pitcher Satchel Paige to bring his Bismark, N.D. team to Wichita. Paige obliged and his team won that tourney. He was the star of the show, winning four games, striking out 60 batters and gaining Most Valuable Player honors
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