The National Baseball Congress World Series or NBC World Series is an annual, collegiate and semi-pro baseball tournament held in Wichita, Kansas. Satchel Paige, Don Sutton, Tom Seaver, Ozzie Smith, Tony Gwynn, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are just a few of the Major League Baseball stars that have played in the tournament. ^[1]

When the national tournament started in 1935, participants were primarily town teams and industrial teams. Team rosters featured aging, former minor league and major league ballplayers and players ineligible for major league baseball. In the mid-1960s team rosters transitioned to collegiate players, including prospects on the fast path to the major leagues. ^[2] In 1975, the NBC World Series began recognizing a tournament participant who went on to a major league career as Graduate of the Year. ^[1]

The first NBC World Series called the "Little World Series" was held August 13–27, 1935 at Lawrence Stadium in Wichita. National Baseball Congress founder, Hap Dumont, was director of the National Tournament Committee of Wichita that put on the tournament. Thirty-two teams were invited to the first national tournament. A focus was put on diversity with five teams classified as "integrated", one team consisted of Native American players and another of Japanese players. ^[3]

Future Baseball Hall of Famer, Satchel Paige, was signed to a $1,000 personal appearance contract for the 1935 tournament. A victim of the baseball color barrier, Paige was not eligible to play minor league or major league baseball. Paige won four games, striking out 60 batters while leading the Bismarck Churchills to the first NBC World Series championship. He was named MVP of the tournament.

Dumont recruited Baseball Hall of Fame member Honus Wagner as the guest of honor at the 1935 opening night banquet. In addition to Wagner, celebrity guests that have been honored at the opening night banquet include: Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Dizzy Dean, Connie Mack, Allie Reynolds, Fred Clarke and Rin Tin Tin. ^[4]

Teams bolstered by military service players dominated the WWII (1943–1945) and Korean War (1952–1955) tournaments. During these eras, major league players were serving at military bases across the country and playing for the base teams. 1953 World Series MVP Billy Martin played in the 1954 NBC World Series with the Goodland, Kansas Tigers. A new rule making major league "name" stars unavailable in National Baseball Congress tournaments was implemented following the 1955 NBC World Series. ^[5]

NBC Champions

NBC World Series Champions ^[7] and MVPs. ^[8]

NBC Graduate of the Year

Since 1975 the NBC World Series has recognized a former participant as "Graduate of the Year". ^[9]

History

Founder

Founder Raymond Harry "Hap" Dumont (1904–1971) spent his career working in sports. Early in life, he was a sports editor for newspapers in Wichita and Hutchinson. He also promoted boxing and wrestling matches. When the opportunity arose, he sold sporting equipment, succeeding in the mail-order business even as the great depression lingered. ^[10]

Dumont got his start promoting baseball with a game between circus clowns and firemen in 1925. Kansas had blue laws at the time that limited business activities on Sundays; that included the circus but not baseball. Sparks Bros Circus clowns and roustabouts inquired about playing a local baseball team to earn some extra money on their day off. Dumont setup the game at Island Park located on Ackerman Island in Wichita. Abe Goldstein, a famous clown, performed on the field and in the stands. The clowns did not provide all of the tricks as the Firemen's centerfielder patrolled the outfield on the back of a motorcycle driven by a policeman. A sellout crowd of 3,500 turned out to see the game. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

Island Park burnt down in 1933 when a cigarette ignited the wooden structure. Without a venue to host his baseball games, Dumont petitioned the city of Wichita for a W.P.A. project to construct a new stadium. He presented an idea for a national, semi-professional baseball tournament to be held in Wichita. An idea that had not occurred to Dumont prior to the conversation. ^[13] Lawrence Stadium was constructed prior to the 1934 baseball season. In 1978, Lawrence Stadium was renamed Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in honor of Dumont. ^[14]

Dumont continued to use gimmicks to promote his baseball tournaments. Games were held early in the morning when graveyard shifts ended. An emphasis was put on "wumps", women umpires. One rule allowed the batter to run to either first or third base when the bases were unoccupied. Dumont had a microphone installed at home plate. When activated the microphone would rise up from the ground, allowing arguments at the plate to be broadcast to the whole stadium. To keep games moving at a rapid pace, he implemented an air device that could dust home plate. A timer with a buzzer was installed on the outfield wall. If either team took more than 90 seconds between innings or 20 seconds between pitches, a ball or strike was awarded to penalize the offender ^{[13] [15]}

In 1945, Dumont created a national uproar with a plan for a global tournament. Just five days after Japan surrendered in World War II, Dumont announced his plan for a September tournament that would include an invitation to Japan. Dumont quickly withdrew the proposal and the tournament was not held. ^[16] Five years later with the authorization of General Douglas MacArthur, the series was held in Tokyo and Osaka Japan. ^[17]

Dumont died in his office on July 3, 1971 while preparing for the 1971 National Baseball Congress World Series. ^[18] His wife, Anne Dumont, retained ownership of the National Baseball Congress with Larry Davis leading the organization. ^[19]

National Baseball Congress

The National Baseball Congress is best known for promoting amateur baseball games, but their reach extended beyond the games. The National Baseball Congress printed an Official Baseball Annual that included two hundred pages of rules and records. A pocket size version of baseball rules was also printed. Certification was provided for umpires, scorers and leagues through the National Baseball Congress. Player contracts were tracked via a national system to prevent "team jumping". The organization also sold trophies, medals, baseballs, umpire equipment and even insurance. ^[13]

Wichita businessman Dee Hubbard purchased the National Baseball Congress in 1972, following the death of Hap Dumont. The organization was renamed National Baseball Congress of America. ^[20]

State Tournaments

In 1931, Dumont established the Kansas Invitation Baseball Tournament to determine a semi-pro champion in the state of Kansas. Thirty-two teams were invited to the inaugural event, a single elimination tournament held at Island Park in Wichita. ^[21] Abilene won the first Kansas tournament. ^[22]

Additional state tournaments were organized in the following years, eventually including all fifty states. When the national tournament, NBC World Series, was established in 1935 the state tournament champions qualified for the national tournament. ^[23]

The state tournaments eventually became qualifying tournaments to regional tournaments, rather than the national tournament. Regional tournament champions qualified for the national tournament. ^[24]

Global Tournaments

With district, state, regional and a national tournament in place, Dumont set out to establish a non-professional global tournament. He started in 1939, with a seven-game series between the NBC World Series champion representing the United States and the Puerto Rico national champion from Guayama. In 1948, a Can-Am Series with Canada was billed as the Sandlot Baseball World Series. 1950 and 1952 matched the NBC World Series champion against Japan in the Inter-Hemisphere Series. ^[25]

International Series

In 1955, a non-professional Global Series was organized. Teams representing Canada, Columbia, Hawaii (a U.S. Territory until 1959), Holland, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain played in the eight team tournament. The NBC World Series champion represented the United States. ^{[32] [33]} The Global Series only lasted three seasons.

Global Series 1955–1957

See also

• Amateur baseball in the United States
• Baseball awards#U.S. collegiate summer baseball

References

External links

• NBC Baseball website