Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color LineAlthough largely ignored by historians of both baseball in general and the Negro leagues in particular, Latinos have been a significant presence in organized baseball from the beginning. In this benchmark study on Latinos and professional baseball from the 1880s to the present, Adrian Burgos tells a compelling story of the men who negotiated the color line at every turn—passing as "Spanish" in the major leagues or seeking respect and acceptance in the Negro leagues. Burgos draws on archival materials from the U.S., Cuba, and Puerto Rico, as well as Spanish- and English-language publications and interviews with Negro league and major league players. He demonstrates how the manipulation of racial distinctions that allowed management to recruit and sign Latino players provided a template for Brooklyn Dodgers’ general manager Branch Rickey when he initiated the dismantling of the color line by signing Jackie Robinson in 1947. Burgos's extensive examination of Latino participation before and after Robinson's debut documents the ways in which inclusion did not signify equality and shows how notions of racialized difference have persisted for darker-skinned Latinos like Orestes ("Minnie") Miñoso, Roberto Clemente, and Sammy Sosa. |
Contents
1 | |
PART ONE THE RISE OF AMERICAS GAME AND THE COLOR LINE | 15 |
PART TWO LATINOS AND THE RACIAL DIVIDE | 69 |
PART THREE BEYOND INTEGRATION | 177 |
Pioneering Latinos | 269 |
Other editions - View all
Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line Adrian Burgos No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Adolfo Luque African American African American players Alex Pompez Almeida Alou Amer America’s game April ball barnstorming base big-league black baseball black players Cambria Caribbean catcher Cepeda Chicago Cincinnati Reds club color line Cuba Cuban baseball Cuban Giants Cuban players Cuban Stars cultural Dihigo Dodgers Dominican Republic Estalella ethnic fans Felipe Alou foreign-born Latinos González Harlem Havana historian History ican immigrants inclusion Indian integration Jim Crow José labor Latin American Latino players League team Luque major major-league organizations major-league teams Marsans Mexican League Miñoso National League native Nava's NBLA Negro leagues newspaper clipping North American numbers organized baseball performance pitcher Player File professional baseball Puerto Rican race racial knowledge racial understandings Rico Roberto roster scouting season segregation signing social Spanish Spanish-speaking Americas sportswriters spring training Tampa team officials teammates Tiant tion U.S. professional United University Press Vic Power Washington Senators Yankees York Age York Clipper York Cubans York Giants