Nick Clark can’t help use the word “great” when describing the baseball exploits of Syd. L. Thweatt Jr.
But as talented a hitter and infielder as Thweatt Jr. was at Stephen D. Lee High School in Columbus and East Mississippi Junior College in Scooba, Clark said there is another quality about his longtime friend that has left a bigger impression on him.
“He was an encourager,” Clark said. “He was a lead-by-example and a vocal leader. I think it is his genuine concern for the people around him that helped him be a leader, and that has played well in his professional life because he is real successful in sales and marketing and has done quite well. That has served him well throughout the years.”
On Saturday during East Mississippi Community College’s Homecoming festivities, Thweatt Jr.’s accomplishments as a baseball players will be recognized when he is one of eight members of East Mississippi Community College’s 2015 Sports Hall of Fame Class. Thweatt Jr., who lettered in baseball for four years at Lee High and was a member of Ikie Etheridge’s 1965 EMJC team that won the Mississippi junior college state championship, will be honored with Wayne “Bugar” Bailey, Milford Brown, James Cantrell, George Cummings, Tony McCullough, Virgil Seay, and Louie Spink at halftime of the No. 6 EMCC football team’s game against Itawamba C.C. at Sullivan-Windham Field.
Recently retired EMCC President Dr. Rick Young also will be recognized as the 2015 recipient of the school’s Alumnus of the Year and Distinguished Service Award honors.
Clark, who is vice president for development and alumni affairs at EMCC, played with Thweatt Jr. on the 1965 state championship team. He also played against Thweatt Jr. in high school as a member of the Noxubee County High teams. He said Thweatt Jr. was a talented hitter who played third base and shortstop. He said Thweatt Jr. hit over .400 at EMJC and had a bunch of RBIs and stolen bases. He said he always appreciated Thweatt Jr.’s enthusiasm for the game and that it rubbed off on his teammates.
Thweatt Jr. helped the Lions get back to the state championship game as a sophomore. He also stayed involved off the field as well by participating in the college’s Student Government Association and served as Fellowship of Christian Athletes publicity chairman. As an intramural basketball player in Lowndes County, he also worked as a statistician and manager for EMJC’s basketball team.
Thweatt Jr. was recruited to Delta State by Hall of Fame baseball coach Dave “Boo” Ferriss. Although he didn’t play baseball at the four-year level, Thweatt Jr. earned his business administration degree from Delta State in 1968. Following graduation, Thweatt enlisted in the United State Army and graduated from Artillery Officer Candidate School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1969. After spending a year in Germany as adjutant to a full colonel with general status, he earned a Bronze Star Medal by serving in Vietnam as an artillery officer.
Upon returning to the United States after serving the United States for nearly three years, Thweatt Jr. began his professional career in sales as an assistant national sales manager for Howard Family Room Furniture in Starkville from 1972-75. With his family originally rooted in Columbus as owners of Bob’s Place Restaurant for several years, Thweatt has lived in Richmond, Virginia, for the past 40 years. In that time, he has worked as an independent sales representative in the furniture and lighting business in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
Thweatt Jr. said he learned he was going to be inducted into EMCC’s Sports Hall of Fame in May. He said it was surprising to receive the news and that he didn’t expect it. He said he called his cousin, Robert “Uncle Bunky” Williams, and set up plans for him to attend the function with him. Unfortunately, Williams, a longtime cartoonist, illustrator, TV pioneer, among other things, died last month.
“He was more excited than I was,” Thweatt Jr. said. “I was hoping he would be able to go with me.”
Thweatt Jr. credits the lessons he learned at Propst Park in Columbus for setting him on a path to success at Lee High and at EMJC. He said he was a pitcher in Little League who moved to third base when he reached high school age. When asked about his baseball skills, Thweatt said he was a “good defensive player” and a hitter “who could hit for average.”
Despite his skills, Thweatt wasn’t sure he was going to play baseball in college. He said his father passed away in 1964, his senior year at Lee High, and that it took him “a while to get his head squared on straight.” He said he didn’t have a lot of money when he went to EMJC and that he found “an amazing place to get an education that didn’t cost me a lot of money.”
“Coach Etheridge was a great, great guy,” Thweatt Jr. said. “We had two really good years there.”
After his military service, Thweatt Jr. took a job in Starkville before he moved to Richmond, Virginia, in 1975. Now 69, Thweatt Jr. said his love for people has helped him have success as a professional. He believes the success he had at EMJC gave him the confidence to develop relationships with people and to be a trusted sales representative.
“The main thing in selling is understanding what you think they need and bringing that across to them in a way that it is received by them,” Thweatt Jr. said. “You have to listen, of course, to find out what they need, and you have to have a personality to get on their good side to build up a rapport with them. I have made quite a few friends up here over a long period of time. I am now dealing with the sons and daughters of a lot of people I started with.
“If you have had some success in basically anything you have a confidence about what you’re doing. If I can do this (baseball), I can do that. When you’re out here selling, if you don’t sell it, if a factory doesn’t ship it, don’t get paid. You better understand what you’re doing and understand it quickly. I always had a confidence I could hit a baseball and field it, and I had a good arm. I always had confidence in my abilities as a baseball player, and that helped me, of course, have confidence in other things.”
Clark saw the confidence Thweatt Jr. showcased on the baseball field. He said he will be privileged to be in attendance this weekend to see his friend honored.
“He had great enthusiasm for the game and a great work ethic,” Clark said. “He was a natural athlete, a gifted athlete. It is a real special Hall of Fame for me because Syd is included in this year’s class. I am honored to have been a teammate of Syd Thweatt.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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