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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — In 1950, a dedicated baseball fan came to Wichita for his first National Baseball Congress World Series.
Today, 86-year-old Max Smyth is still attending.
Smyth was born and raised in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and makes the trip every summer.
Through multiple stadiums, hundreds of teams, and different eras of baseball, the NBC World Series evolved over the years. But one consistency is Max Smyth.
“I was just a kid, and my dad and mom and my granddad and grandma came,” Smyth said.
“And of course I came with them and just kind of fell in love with the game and the ballpark and all the people and the atmosphere.”
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Over the last 76 years, almost nothing stopped Smyth from attending the NBC.
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Smyth was still here for the tournament, reviewing his roster sheet, finding players from Oklahoma and enjoying the games.
His wife, Betty, didn’t come that year, “but I came,” he said.
“I felt kind of funny sitting there with nobody around me,” Smyth said. “I was sitting there with a mask on. But it was a nice experience.”
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Over the many decades, he only missed one tournament.
Smyth has seen the likes of baseball legends Roger Clemens and Mickey Mantle come through town. He said he’s watched long enough to see baseball and the tournament evolve over time.
“When I first started coming, of course, they were a lot older,” Smyth said. “And as the years went by, the kids from college started to come to this tournament. Now it’s all college kids.”
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Smyth takes full advantage of his time at the ballpark. He stays for every game until the last out. If necessary, he’ll stay watching into the morning hours.
“Last night, I got home from the ballpark at 2:30,” he said.
When the game over, he was the only one around, except for some little kids running around and three or four other people.
“Everybody else had left,” Smyth said.
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Rain or shine, day or night, or even through a pandemic, his motto for his consistent attendance is, “I’ll be there.”
For the championship game on Saturday at Equity Bank Park, Smyth will throw out the first pitch. The whole town of Blackwell was invited to come up and celebrate with him, his family and friends.
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