{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Ask A Kansan","title":"Baseball Traditions with Katie Woods | Playball Kansas","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2844,"description":"What if the hottest summer ticket in Kansas sports has been hiding in plain sight for 92 years? We sat down with Katie Woods, director of the National Baseball Congress in Wichita, and walked away completely obsessed with bobbleheads, Bananaball, and a baseball tournament with more history than you'd ever guess. From a 3 AM game under the lights to a decade-before-Jackie-Robinson integrated championship team, this conversation covers just about everything that makes baseball in Kansas special.\n\nHighlights\n\nKatie Woods introduces herself as director of the National Baseball Congress (NBC), founded in Wichita in the 1930s by Hap Dumont\nThe story behind the brand-new Ozzie Smith backflip bobblehead giveaway\nHow NBC teams work today: summer collegiate players (ages 18-22) from colleges across the country\nWhy Katie fell into baseball via an internship with the Houston Astros, then the Frisco RoughRiders and Everett AquaSox\nThe wild history behind minor league team names and mascots\nHap Dumont's decades of innovation: pitch clocks 60 years early, glow-in-the-dark baseball, mic'd-up umpires, and even early attempts at instant replay and an automatic ball-strike system\n\"Baseball Around the Clock\" — 11 games in 33 hours, complete with tent camping, RVs, and survivor t-shirts\nThe emotional and communal side of directing an all-night tournament\nTrophy and prize money: the historic Cessna Cup and an $18,000 winner's purse\nPlans for the NBC's upcoming 100th anniversary/centennial celebration\nDigitizing decades of NBC archives with Wichita State's Special Collections\nThe incredible true story of the 1935 Bismarck Churchills — the first integrated team to win a national title in any sport, a decade before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier\nThe growing role of women in baseball, including Katie being the NBC's first female tournament director in 90 years\nA rousing round of Stories from a Hat, covering white lies, favorite chairs, and nostalgic Wichita hangouts\n\nChapters\n...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/31uDhQmE-73zaqpWjXtwnyYffNMsUnDPiL6GtjTddEQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mNzBm/YzFkNDBkODVjNGM2/MzMwMGViYjhmZTY4/Nzc0Mi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}