There is, perhaps, no sport more embedded in Plant City’s history than baseball.
The best-known contributions of the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World’s baseball ventures include high school championships, a stint hosting the Cincinnati Reds in the spring and the production of pro talents, such as Kenny Rogers, Ryan Raburn and Tyler Danish.
But what many area baseball fans may not know about are the Plant Citians that played in the face of segregation.
Back in the days of the Negro Leagues, Plant City’s black population was also responsible for grooming future pros. Men like Walter Lee Hardy and Terry Thomas Sr. made it to the show, carving out respectable careers for themselves in the days before and after Jackie Robinson broke the sport’s color barrier.
Although Walter Hardy is no longer around to tell his own story, his legend lives on.
Walter Lee Hardy
Walter Hardy was born in Plant City on Sept. 1, 1926, to Joseph and Juanita Hardy. He was raised by his maternal grandparents, Lang and Rosie Hallman, at 702 E. Haines St. (now Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard) and 410 Laurel St.
Walter Hardy lived in Plant City until age 18, when his baseball skills with the semi-pro Pepsi-Cola Giants team landed him a spot in the Negro Leagues. He played for the New York Black Yankees from 1945-47 and, after holding out for a bigger paycheck in 1948, went to the New York Cubans in 1949. His last stop in the league was with the Kansas City Monarchs, in 1950.
Walter Hardy earned a reputation as a “flashy-fielding, weak-hitting middle infielder,” according to James A. Riley’s book, “The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues.” Indeed, he carried a .192 batting average throughout his five years in the Negro National League, and .249 overall when including his time in Canada.
In 1948 and 1949, Walter Hardy joined the Jackie Robinson All-Stars’ barnstorming tours, playing for crowds across the country. He would also later befriend the “Say Hey Kid” Willie Mays — one of the greatest players in New York/San Francisco Giants history — and legendary Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella.
“He used to go golfing on the weekends with Willie,” Edward Hardy, Walter Hardy’s brother, says. “He was trying to get me to go golfing, but I was 10 years old. He was like, ‘Come on! Come on! I can introduce you to a lot of famous people!’”
Walter Hardy’s last documented year as a pro was 1955, when he played for the St. Jean Canadiens.
After baseball, Walter Hardy made his home in New York. His friendship with Campanella extended into a business partnership, with Walter Hardy managing several of Campanella’s businesses in Harlem.
The oldest of five children, Walter Hardy’s siblings remember him fondly. Edward Hardy, who is 26 years younger, says that he learned a lot from his famous brother, who would bring home memorabilia.
“He was a ladies’ man,” Edward Hardy says. “He stayed sharp all the time. He taught me how to keep myself groomed and how to carry myself. He was always there for me — I loved him dearly.”
Walter Hardy died in a nursing home in Rockland County, New York, in September of 1980.
His great-nephew, Alonzo Hardy, has been trying to find out more about the life of his “flashy-fielding” relative. Alonzo Hardy, who lives in Georgia, has reached out to William Thomas, who is working on a Negro Leagues exhibit at the Bing House Museum.
“I didn’t know about him until 10 years ago,” Alonzo Hardy says. “I had heard about him from my uncle.”
Terry Thomas Sr.
William Thomas also has a familial connection to the Negro Leagues. His grandfather, Terry Thomas Sr., was an outfielder who switched to baseball after playing semi-pro football for the Plant City Trojans.
Terry Thomas Sr., who still lives in Plant City, played semi-pro baseball for the Plant City Aces and Pepsi-Cola Giants for most of the 1944-1950 time period; the exception was 1947, when he went to the Negro Leagues to play for the Atlanta Black Crackers and the New Orleans Black Pelicans.
He also took part in an all-star exhibition game in 1953, which put Florida State Negro Baseball League players against West Coast Negro Baseball League at Plant Field (now demolished).
“One of my favorite memories of my time in Atlanta, we were in Kansas City and that was when I first heard of Jackie Robinson,” Terry Thomas Sr. says. “He was the fastest guy I’ve ever seen. They whooped us.”
Terry Thomas Sr., a father of five, developed a love of baseball shortly after his parents separated at a young age. Baseball gave him the chance to make a living doing something he loved and help his young family in the process. While with Atlanta, he frequently sent money home to his future wife and first son.
“I loved playing baseball,” he says. “I had one son. Back then, people didn’t get as much money, so I always sent some money back for my girlfriend and my son.”
Shortly after marrying and learning he was to have another child, Terry Thomas left the Negro Leagues when a pay raise request was turned down. He never played professional baseball again, but loved to play pickup games whenever he had free time.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.