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Latin Baseball
Away Games | Castro's Curveball | The Pride of Havana
On a superficial level this book describes the transformation of Miguel Tejada from a Dominican street urchin to the star shortstop of the Oakland Athletics. But as compelling as Tejada's story is, it's merely symbolic, because Breton, a senior writer for The Sacramento Bee, has a much more profound tale to tell: the complicated and not entirely happy history of Hispanic ballplayers in the major leagues.
Without diminishing the pioneering importance of Jackie Robinson, Breton points out that dark-skinned Latinos, some of whom were black, played in the grandes ligas decades before Robinson's historic debut in 1947. At least two of these Spanish-speaking players, Jacinto (Jack) Calvo and Jose Acosta, appeared in both the big leagues and the Negro leagues. They were never credited with breaking the color barrier because, as Breton writes, "they had to not only deny who they were but outright lie about it so they could play."
After Robinson, however, black Latinos became the game's most populous immigrants. Breton's prose may on occasion seem a trifle overwrought, but there is rich material here.
Issue date: Aug. 9, 1999
Castro's Curveball By Tim Wendel Ballantine Books, $23.95 One hispanic who was either rejected or entirely overlooked by big league scouts in the 1940s was a righthanded pitcher and left-wing activist named Fidel Castro. But in this sprightly work of fiction, Wendel, who earlier wrote a nonfiction book about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, credits the Cuban leader with a wicked curveball that entices at least one scout and one minor league catcher. The problem they face: How do they lure him from overturning a government to overpowering big league hitters? Make a guess. Issue date: Aug. 9, 1999 The Pride of Havana:A History of Cuban Baseball By Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria Oxford University Press, $35 There may be more here, in more than 400 pages, than you want to know about Cuba's national pastime, but Yale scholar Echevarria, who teaches Spanish comparative literature, has written a fascinating and definitive history of the subject. As early as page 6 he tells us in no uncertain terms that Fidel (Cubans always call him Fidel, the author explains, never Castro) was never scouted by any major league team and that his curveball wasn't worth a damn. Issue date: Aug. 9, 1999 By Title A Clever Base-Ballist A Coach's Life A Flame of Pure Fire A Golfer's Life A Jerk on One End A Life on the Edge Alpine Circus Away Games Baby Bull Baseball's Pivotal Era Best Shots Castro's Curveball Double Reverse Dwight Davis: The Man and The Cup Every Down, Every Distance Faith in the Game Fenway Ghosts of Everest Inside the Meat Grinder Knockdown Last Climb Long Balls, No Strikes Never Before, Never Again Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football Roberto Clemente: The Great One Rockne of Notre Dame Say It Ain't So, Joe! SloMo Slouching Toward Fargo The 500 Home Run Club The Junction Boys The Lost Explorer The Majors The Pride of Havana The Ripken Way The Sporting Life This Copyrighted Broadcast True Blue When Pride Still Mattered Where They Ain't By Theme Autobiography (11) Baseball (8) Miscellaneous (7) Football (6) Mt. Everest (4) Latin Baseball (3) Basketball (1) By Author Bryan Di Salvatore Dean Smith Roger Kahn Arnold Palmer Robert Hughes Jim Whittaker Michael Finkel Marcos Breton Orlando Cepeda William Marshall The NFL Tim Wendel Tim Green Nancy Kriplen Wayne Chrebet Tom Osborne Dan Shaughnessy Jochen Hemmleb Chad Brown Martin Dugard David Breashears Joe Morgan Eddie Robinson John M. Carroll Bruce Markusen Ray Robinson Donald Gropman Rick Reilly Neal Karlen Bob Allen Jim Dent John Feinstein Conrad Anker Roberto Echevarria Cal Ripken, Sr. Bill Barich Hank Greenwald Carmen L. Cozza David Maraniss Burt Solomon By Subject John Montgomery Ward Dean Smith Jack Dempsey Arnold Palmer Lighter side of fishing First American Everest ascent Skiing short stories Latin baseball/Miguel Tejada Orlando Cepeda Baseball in the 1940s NFL Photography Fidel Castro's fictional curveball "Trane Jones" Davis Cup founder Wayne Chrebet Tom Osborne Fenway Park George Mallory NFL officials Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race Mallory's Everest attempts Joe Morgan Eddie Robinson Red Grange Roberto Clemente Knute Rockne Shoeless Joe Jackson "Maurice (Slo-Mo) Finsternick" St. Paul Saints 500 Home Run Club Bear Bryant Golf's Majors Discovering George Mallory History of Cuban Baseball Cal Ripken, Sr. Short story collection Hank Greenwald (broadcaster) Carmen Cozza/Yale football Vince Lombardi Wee Willie Keeler Copyright © 2000 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.
One hispanic who was either rejected or entirely overlooked by big league scouts in the 1940s was a righthanded pitcher and left-wing activist named Fidel Castro. But in this sprightly work of fiction, Wendel, who earlier wrote a nonfiction book about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, credits the Cuban leader with a wicked curveball that entices at least one scout and one minor league catcher. The problem they face: How do they lure him from overturning a government to overpowering big league hitters? Make a guess.
The Pride of Havana:A History of Cuban Baseball By Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria Oxford University Press, $35 There may be more here, in more than 400 pages, than you want to know about Cuba's national pastime, but Yale scholar Echevarria, who teaches Spanish comparative literature, has written a fascinating and definitive history of the subject. As early as page 6 he tells us in no uncertain terms that Fidel (Cubans always call him Fidel, the author explains, never Castro) was never scouted by any major league team and that his curveball wasn't worth a damn. Issue date: Aug. 9, 1999 By Title A Clever Base-Ballist A Coach's Life A Flame of Pure Fire A Golfer's Life A Jerk on One End A Life on the Edge Alpine Circus Away Games Baby Bull Baseball's Pivotal Era Best Shots Castro's Curveball Double Reverse Dwight Davis: The Man and The Cup Every Down, Every Distance Faith in the Game Fenway Ghosts of Everest Inside the Meat Grinder Knockdown Last Climb Long Balls, No Strikes Never Before, Never Again Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football Roberto Clemente: The Great One Rockne of Notre Dame Say It Ain't So, Joe! SloMo Slouching Toward Fargo The 500 Home Run Club The Junction Boys The Lost Explorer The Majors The Pride of Havana The Ripken Way The Sporting Life This Copyrighted Broadcast True Blue When Pride Still Mattered Where They Ain't By Theme Autobiography (11) Baseball (8) Miscellaneous (7) Football (6) Mt. Everest (4) Latin Baseball (3) Basketball (1) By Author Bryan Di Salvatore Dean Smith Roger Kahn Arnold Palmer Robert Hughes Jim Whittaker Michael Finkel Marcos Breton Orlando Cepeda William Marshall The NFL Tim Wendel Tim Green Nancy Kriplen Wayne Chrebet Tom Osborne Dan Shaughnessy Jochen Hemmleb Chad Brown Martin Dugard David Breashears Joe Morgan Eddie Robinson John M. Carroll Bruce Markusen Ray Robinson Donald Gropman Rick Reilly Neal Karlen Bob Allen Jim Dent John Feinstein Conrad Anker Roberto Echevarria Cal Ripken, Sr. Bill Barich Hank Greenwald Carmen L. Cozza David Maraniss Burt Solomon By Subject John Montgomery Ward Dean Smith Jack Dempsey Arnold Palmer Lighter side of fishing First American Everest ascent Skiing short stories Latin baseball/Miguel Tejada Orlando Cepeda Baseball in the 1940s NFL Photography Fidel Castro's fictional curveball "Trane Jones" Davis Cup founder Wayne Chrebet Tom Osborne Fenway Park George Mallory NFL officials Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race Mallory's Everest attempts Joe Morgan Eddie Robinson Red Grange Roberto Clemente Knute Rockne Shoeless Joe Jackson "Maurice (Slo-Mo) Finsternick" St. Paul Saints 500 Home Run Club Bear Bryant Golf's Majors Discovering George Mallory History of Cuban Baseball Cal Ripken, Sr. Short story collection Hank Greenwald (broadcaster) Carmen Cozza/Yale football Vince Lombardi Wee Willie Keeler Copyright © 2000 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.
There may be more here, in more than 400 pages, than you want to know about Cuba's national pastime, but Yale scholar Echevarria, who teaches Spanish comparative literature, has written a fascinating and definitive history of the subject. As early as page 6 he tells us in no uncertain terms that Fidel (Cubans always call him Fidel, the author explains, never Castro) was never scouted by any major league team and that his curveball wasn't worth a damn.
