Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles

by Balderrama, Francisco E.; Santillan, Richard A.; Regalado, Samuel O.

• ISBN13: 9780738581804
• ISBN10: 0738581801
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-02-21
• Publisher: Arcadia Pub

Summary

Images of Baseball: Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles celebrates the flourishing culture of the great pastime in East Los Angeles and other communities where a strong sense of Mexican identity and pride was fostered in a sporting atmosphere of both fierce athleticism and social celebration. From 1900, with the establishment of the Mexican immigrant community, to the rise of Fernandomania in the 1980s, baseball diamonds in greater Los Angeles were both proving grounds for youth as they entered their educations and careers, and the foundation for the talented Forty-Sixty Club, comprised of players of at least 40, and often over 60, years of age. These evocative photographs look back on the great Mexican American teams and players of the 20th century, including the famous Chorizeros--the proclaimed "Yankees of East L.A."

Author Biography

Francisco E. Balderrama, professor of Chicano studies and history at California State University, Los Angeles, and coauthor Richard A. Santillan, professor emeritus of ethnic and women studies at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, serve on the advisory board of the Latino Baseball History Project at the John M. Pfau Library of California State University, San Bernardino. The project provided the vintage photographs presented here.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. 6
Foreword	p. 7
Introduction	p. 8
Mexican American Baseball: A Genuine National Pastime	p. 9
Youth Baseball: From Sandlots to University Diamonds	p. 29
Barrio Baseball: A Celebration of Athletic Talent and Ethnic Identity	p. 49
Transnational Baseball: Mexican Americans Playing Mexican Baseball	p. 73
Professional Baseball: American Dreams for Mexican Americans	p. 87
Dodger Baseball: Chávez Ravine to ôFernandomaniaö	p. 103
Baseball Legacy: Latino Baseball History Project	p. 119
Bibliography	p. 126
About the Organization	p. 127
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