Baseball the common denominator in Hattiesburg dugout at NBC

Trey Aby was walking the concourse of Lawrence-Dumont Stadium when he noticed a familiar face. Or at least a picture of one.

Displayed on a metal partition, where the stadium celebrates the stars and legends who played there, was Harry “The Hat” Walker, who used some of his later years to teach Aby the art of hitting.

Aby is passing along his knowledge as the manager of the Hattiesburg (Miss.) Black Sox, a team that nearly dates to the beginning of Walker’s career but who are appearing at the National Baseball Congress World Series for the first time.

“I never put anything together until about 10 years later and I was watching some clips from the Pittsburgh Pirates, when they had won a World Series,” Aby said. “They said, ‘Harry the Hat Walker,’ and I started doing some research on it, and it was him. That guy used to give me batting lessons – I’m not worthy of that, that’s awesome.”

Walker’s career, which included a National League batting title in 1947, started with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1940. A year later, the Black Sox started as an Independent Negro League team. They’ve essentially been owned by two people, Aby, whose wife Heather is the current owner, and Milton Barnes, who owned the team from 1941-2003.

The Black Sox have mostly operated as a semi-pro team but are strictly amateurs now, even though they have several former – and perhaps future – professionals on the roster. And one dentist, center fielder Trey Jones.

Hattiesburg, which integrated with white players in 1943 and has won several summer-league tournaments outside the NBC, won its opener 5-4 over Inland Empire on Sunday night. The Black Sox play Tuesday’s feature game at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

“Some of the stories for some of these guys – some of them had a chance or they might have not done well in school,” said the 45-year-old Aby, a former Black Sox player. “This is their chance to come back and play baseball. This it it, and play for their team in Mississippi. That’s important.”

Everyone on the Black Sox roster is from Mississippi except for a couple late local additions who can cover for a departure, like that of pitcher Tre Hobbs, who was recently signed into independent baseball.

The team is so close-knit that some players hesitated to come to Wichita because Heather Aby is undergoing surgery this week in Mississippi. Trey Aby said she planned to make it to Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Thursday and take her normal spot in the dugout.

“It’s like a humongous family, that’s what this is,” Aby said. “If somebody comes and plays with us, it’s because somebody knows that guy. We can filter through them in about 10 minutes. I don’t care how great they are, if they can’t get along with the rest of the guys, we cut them loose. I don’t care if they’re a first-round pick.

“These guys come from so many walks of life, but the one common denominator is baseball.”

Aby said few people outside Mississippi have heard of the Black Sox, but they’re expanding their following. A postgame interview with Jaylyn Williams on the NBC’s Facebook page has been viewed more than 2,000 times and Aby said he has sifted through social media messages of support from strangers and friends.

The Black Sox have passed up an NBC World Series bid in the past, and once Aby saw the display for Walker, he knew he was in the right spot. The players weren’t receptive to the lesson on Aby’s former instructor, but the history of the team isn’t lost on the Black Sox.

Nor is the history they’re making.

“It’s hard to explain,” Aby said. “I get worked up about it. It’s not a money thing. I don’t care about money, my wife and I are fortunate. But if something good could happen for these guys – just something, I don’t care what it is – that’s all I’m interested in. I don’t care about anything else, that’s how much I love it.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2017 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Baseball the common denominator in Hattiesburg dugout at NBC."