From teaching to drag bunt to Hall

Harry Stokes to be inducted into the Sumter Sports Hall of Hame on Thursday

By DENNIS BRUNSON
Item Sports Editor
dennisb@theitem.com

Bobby Richardson is famous for his days as a World Series Most Valuable Player and second baseman for the New York Yankees. And he has never been shy in giving thanks to those who helped him along the way, one person in particular.

Richardson said he never would forget “when Mr. Stokes was visiting practice and casually walked up to me and offered to teach me to drag bunt. Needless to say, I accepted; he did, and my batting average improved, but more importantly, it helped put Harry Stokes on a baseball pedastal in my life.”

That is part of the letter that Richardson sent with a nomination form to put Harry Stokes up for consideration for becoming a member of the Sumter Sports Hall of Fame. He was a youngster playing in the Sumter youth leagues while Stokes was seven years his senior. Stokes and Richardson would meet together and practice baseball every day they could until Richardson signed with the Yankees and began his professional career.

That, along with Stokes’ success as the head coach of the Sumter American Legion Post 15 baseball program, will lead to his name being added to the list of members to the Hall of Fame.

Stokes will be inducted into the Sumter Sports Hall of Fame along with Tim Jones, Kenny Frankling, Clifford “Pat” Crawford and Jamacia Jackson posthumously on Thursday beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club at 26 Council Street.

Stokes, who is now 80 years old and lives at Covenant Place, said he is humbled to be entering the hall of fame.

“It just means a lot of things that I can’t express in words,” he said. “It’s something I never strived for or dreamed about. It’s a great honor though.”

Stokes and Richardson have remained good friends since that initial meeting. They even teamed up together to coach the Dalzell Post 175 American Legion baseball team one year.

“He was a fine fellow then, and he’s a fine fellow now,” Stokes said of Richardson.

Stokes was a pretty good ball player in his own right, playing for Edmunds High School and playing for the P-15’s from 1944-46. He was the starting second baseman on the ‘46 team that went 15-5 and won the lower state championship.

While he never played professionally, Stokes played in the old Palmetto League, a semi-pro league which consisted mainly of mill workers in Upstate towns.

“There was just about one in every town,” Stokes said. “There were some good players in there.”

Upon returning to Sumter after a stint in the service, Stokes continued to share his love for baseball with the youth of Sumter. He was eventually asked to coach the P-15’s, which he did from 1953-58.

“They just didn’t have a coach, so they asked me to help,” Stokes said. “I just did it until they found a coach.”

The P-15’s were 60-36 during his tenure, winning four league championships and one district title. Sumter was 17-4 in ‘54, its best record under Stokes.

“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “Sumter was way ahead (of some of the other programs). You had a good amount of kids who liked baseball and they all wanted to play for Sumter.”