"Mexican American Baseball in the San Gabriel Valley puts on record the resounding and brilliant history of baseball and softball in this vibrant and colorful region. Since the early 1900s, baseball and softball have brought boundless joy and immense honor to their fans, families, and neighborhoods. The rich memories of baseball and softball serve as critical prisms to better understand community history; the struggle for social, educational, and cultural equality; the untold contributions of women; the critical role of immigration and labor movements; economic autonomy; political self-determination; and an unmatched love for sports. These breathtaking images and extraordinary stories shed unparalleled light on baseball and softball in this celebrated area of California."--Page 4 of cover.

Mexican American Baseball in the Central Coast pays tribute to the teams and players who brought joy and honor to their fans and communities in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Baseball was played before enthusiastic crowds in Piru, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Ojai, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Goleta, Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Lompoc, and other communities. Players and their families helped create the economic infrastructure and prosperity that are evident today in the Central Coast. For women, softball was a social counterbalance to the strict cultural roles defined by society. Many former players dedicated their lives to the unrelenting struggle for social justice, while others devoted themselves to youth sports. This book remedies the glaring omission of baseball images and stories of Mexican American neighborhoods in the Central Coast of California.

Mexican American Baseball in the San Fernando Valley explores the teams and players that dotted the valley landscape throughout the 20th century. In a time and place where Mexican Americans were closed off from many city recreation centers, neighborhoods formed their own teams. Baseball and softball reinforced community and regional ties, strengthened family bonds, instilled discipline and dedication that translated into future professional careers, provided women opportunities outside their traditional roles in the home, and fostered lifelong friendships. These photographs serve as a lens to both local sports history and Mexican American history.

Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, Deportes uncovers the hidden experiences of Mexican male and female athletes, teams and leagues and their supporters who fought for a more level playing field on both sides of the border. Despite a widespread belief that Mexicans shunned physical exercise, teamwork or “good sportsmanship,” they proved that they could compete in a wide variety of sports at amateur, semiprofessional, Olympic and professional levels. Some even made their mark in the sports world by becoming the “first” Mexican athlete to reach the big leagues and win Olympic medals or world boxing and tennis titles. These sporting achievements were not theirs alone, an entire cadre of supporters—families, friends, coaches, managers, promoters, sportswriters, and fans—rallied around them and celebrated their athletic success. The Mexican nation and community, at home or abroad, elevated Mexican athletes to sports hero status with a deep sense of cultural and national pride. Alamillo argues that Mexican-origin males and females in the United States used sports to empower themselves and their community by developing and sustaining transnational networks with Mexico. Ultimately, these athletes and their supporters created a “sporting Mexican diaspora” that overcame economic barriers, challenged racial and gender assumptions, forged sporting networks across borders, developed new hybrid identities and raised awareness about civil rights within and beyond the sporting world.

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."

"Mexican American Baseball on the Westside of Los Angeles pays homage to the teams, players, coaches, and umpires in Santa Monica, Culver City, Venice, West Los Angeles, and other surrounding communities who brought immeasurable respect and nonstop enjoyment to their loving families, unwavering fans, and pride-filled neighborhoods. From the 1920s to the present, baseball and softball have provided far-reaching educational opportunities, reaffirmed ethnic identity, restructured gender roles for women, promoted political self-determination, and developed economic autonomy. Games were exceptional times when Mexican Americans found safe haven from exhausting labor and blatant discrimination. These unparalleled photographs and significant stories spread extra light on the bountiful history of this distinctive region of Los Angeles."--Page 4 of cover.

"Mexican American Baseball in Sacramento explores the history and culture of teams and players from the Sacramento region. Since the early 20th century, baseball diamonds in California's capital and surrounding communities have nurtured athletic talent, educational skills, ethnic identity, and political self-determination for Mexican Americans. The often-neglected historical narrative of these men's and women's teams tells the story of community, migration, military service, education, gender, social justice, and perseverance. Players often became important members of their communities, and some even went on to become professional athletes--paving a path for Latinos in sports. These photographs serve as a lens to both local sports history and Mexican American history."--Amazon.com.