Latinos in U.S. Sport A History of Isolation, Cultural Identity, and Acceptance Jorge Iber, PhD Texas Tech University Samuel O. Regalado, PhD California State University Stanislaus José M. Alamillo, PhD California State University Channel Islands Arnoldo De León, PhD Angelo State University Human Kinetics Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Latinos in U.S. sport : a history of isolation, cultural identity, and acceptance / Jorge Iber . . . [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8726-1 (hard cover) ISBN-10: 0-7360-8726-5 (hard cover) 1. Hispanic American athletes--History. 2. Hispanic American athletes-- Social conditions. 3. Mexican American athletes--History. 4. Mexican American athletes--Social conditions. 5. Sports--United States--History. 6. Sports--Social aspects--United States. I. Iber, Jorge, 1961- GV583.L37 2011 796.08968073--dc22 2010044049 ISBN-10: 0-7360-8726-5 (print) ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8726-1 (print) Copyright © 2011 by Jorge Iber, Samuel O. Regalado, José M. Alamillo, and Arnoldo De León All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. The Web addresses cited in this text were current as of September 2010, unless otherwise noted. Acquisitions Editor: Myles Schrag; Managing Editor: Melissa J. 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Box 5076 Champaign, IL 61825-5076 800-747-4457 e-mail: [email protected] Canada: Human Kinetics Australia: Human Kinetics 475 Devonshire Road Unit 100 57A Price Avenue Windsor, ON N8Y 2L5 Lower Mitcham, South Australia 5062 800-465-7301 (in Canada only) 08 8372 0999 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Europe: Human Kinetics New Zealand: Human Kinetics 107 Bradford Road P.O. Box 80 Stanningley Torrens Park, South Australia 5062 Leeds LS28 6AT, United Kingdom 0800 222 062 +44 (0) 113 255 5665 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] E4976 Contents Preface vii IntrodUCtIon “Just How Does One Say ‘Woo Pig Sooie’ in Spanish?”: Uncovering the Presence of Latino Athletes in U.S. Sport History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Themes of This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Limitations of This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Chapter one Games of Spaniards, Pre-Columbians, and the Peoples of New Spain, 1500-1821 . . . . . . . . .17 Los Españoles (the Spaniards) and Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Sports, Games, and Entertainment Activities of Pre-Columbian Peoples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Games and Sports in New Spain, 1521-1821. . . . . . . . . . 25 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Chapter two Games Mexicans Played, 1821-1880s . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 19th-Century Borderlands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Games and Sports in Mexico’s Far North, 1821-1848. . . . 41 Games and Sports in the U.S. Southwest, 1848-1880s . . . 52 Into the Modern Sport Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 iii iv Contents Chapter three Getting in the Game: Latino-Style American Sport, 1880s-1930 . . . . . . . . . .67 Athletic Ability of Latinos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Baseball Craze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Rise of American Football. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Marginal Sport Claiming Its Place in Barrio Life . . . . . . . . 94 Dribble Diversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Boxing Ring as a Place for Creating Tough Hombres. . . . 100 Other Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Chapter foUr Sport and Community Life in the Great Depression and World War II, 1930-1950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Athletic Abilities of Latinos: Beginning of a More Realistic Assessment?. . . . . . . . . 116 Lots of Energy to Play Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Football. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Pride and Identification Through Soccer. . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Basketball in the Barrios and Big Tournaments . . . . . . . . 133 Boxing and Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Track and Field: An Athletic Challenge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Burgeoning Latino Presence in Golf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Early Years of Latino Tennis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Contents v Chapter fIve Expanding Opportunities From High Schools to the National Stage, 1950-1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157 Key Historical Trend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Baseball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Football. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Basketball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Boxing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Tennis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Running . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Golf’s Presence in the Barrio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Horse Racing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Chapter SIx Latinos and Sport During an Era of Social Activism, 1965-1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193 Activism and Stardom on the Baseball Diamond. . . . . . . 196 Football. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Hoops and Ethnic Pride During the Chicano Era. . . . . . . 207 Soccer and Recreational Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Boxing as an Outlet for Teenage Frustration. . . . . . . . . . 215 Does Playing Golf Make One Less Latino? . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 vi Contents Chapter Seven Becoming Part of the Mainstream as Consumers, Performers, and Leaders, 1980-2010 . . . . . . . . . . . .225 Four Illustrative Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Key Themes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Burgeoning Presence on the Baseball Diamond and the Front Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Spanish Surnames More Common on the Gridiron . . . . . 243 Basketball at the Heart of the Barrio and Beyond . . . . . . 247 Latinos and Latinas as Part of the Tennis Boom. . . . . . . . 252 Soccer (Fútbol): Cultural Spaces in Unlikely Places . . . . . 256 Continuing Latinization of the Boxing Ring . . . . . . . . . . 261 Latinos as Consumers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Other Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Conclusion 289 Index 292 About the Authors 300 preface “We are survivors. We never give up; we never quit. This is the spirit of the Latin. We are a hard people to put away.” Felipe Alou L atinos in U.S. Sport examines the significance of the participation and contributions of people of Spanish-speaking descent (whether born inside or outside of the boundaries of our nation) on the history of U.S. sport. This book covers as much of the history of this broad topic as possible. We use some of our own primary research and also synthesize secondary materials of wide-ranging academic research from fields such as history, education, and sport marketing to present a historical précis of this popu- lation’s role in the history of U.S. sport. While much of the discussion focuses on the West and Mexican Americans, we do not overlook other Latino groups in our research. Additionally, we do not limit our coverage to one or two major sports or to the professional level. We have sought out materials that cover the totality (community, school based, and profes- sional) of the sporting experience of all Latinos throughout the length and breadth of U.S. history. In this work, we trace the role of sport in the daily lives of Latino com- munities throughout the United States. We start with the arrival of Spanish conquistadors and settlers and provide some details about the games and sports they brought from Europe in the first decades of the 16th century. We trace how American influence (including sport and games) moved into these regions and how, once these territories became part of the United States, American sports (initially baseball) were incorporated by Spanish- speaking people. We argue that the imported games were adopted by Latinos but that they were active historical agents and thus selective about how they played American sports and spent their precious leisure time. The following are among the questions and issues we address: • What games did the Spanish bring with them to the New World from the old? • What games did they incorporate from the native peoples? • How did European American games come to the regions now known as the Southeast and Southwest? • Did Mexican Americans view baseball (and ultimately other sports) as something that threatened their way of life, or did they readily integrate it into their sporting culture? vii viii preface • How do Spanish-speaking people appropriate American sports for their own purposes? In the first two chapters, we cover a period stretching from 1521 through the 1880s. Here, we detail the games and diversions particular to the Span- ish conquistadors and various Native American groups. As these peoples came together to create a new group, the mestizo, so too did their athletic activities and pastimes comingle to create new forms. Finally, we touch on the arrival of yet a third element to this social and sporting equation: the Americans who crossed the 100th meridian, bringing their own culture and sports. Chapters 3 and 4 cover the first five decades of the 20th century. As whites came in larger and larger numbers to the area that we now know as the American West, they brought not only their sports but also their social and racial beliefs. Among these were notions that “dark-skinned” people were inferior in both intellect and physical ability. The games that the Americans played, whites argued, made their men not only physically stronger but also helped to keep their minds keen in order to administer the burgeoning United States economic and military empire. In the first decades of the 1900s, Spanish-surnamed people were perceived as being not quite good enough to compete at American games, and it was (as Kipling would say) “the white man’s burden” to instruct the descendants of Spanish and native people to become civilized. American sports, par- ticularly baseball, were thought of as a valuable tool in this regard. For the Spanish speakers of the West and in other parts of the country as well, athletic competition became not just a diversion but also a mechanism for challenging such assumptions. Success on the diamond, the gridiron, or the court ultimately provided a possibility to chip away against racist notions of their physical and intellectual inferiority. In chapter 3, which covers the years 1880 to 1930, we focus on how European Americans used baseball as part of their attempt to bring “civi- lization” to the areas of Florida and the Southwest. • Did European Americans think that baseball could possibly improve the “Mexicans” of the southwestern territories? • How did Mexican Americans use baseball as a way to demonstrate that they belonged in American society? • How did Mexican Americans use baseball for purposes of community pride and ethnic and labor solidarity? Further, in chapter 3, we examine how other sports (football, basketball, tennis, soccer, golf, and boxing) arrived in the West and the role of these sports in the lives of Mexican Americans. Finally, we scrutinize how Lati- nas fit into the history of sport during this period. Chapter 3 also discusses the arrival of Cuban Americans and other Latin Americans to play baseball in the Major and Negro Leagues. How preface ix did the success of many Latinos in the major leagues (and even a few in the NFL and college football) shape and redefine the perception of Spanish speakers among the broader population? Further, as the Spanish-speaking population in the United States developed in other parts of the nation (Cuban Americans in Florida and Puerto Ricans in the Northeast, Midwest, California, and Hawaii), what role did sport play in their communities? In chapters 4 and 5, such topics are explored through an examination of the writings of educators, corporate leaders, religious leaders, and school bureaucrats about how they perceived the intellectual and physical abilities and limitations of Spanish-speaking people. As a foil to this mostly nega- tive assessment, we highlight information on Latino athletes and teams who overcame great odds to succeed at the local, high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Finally, we also detail the early participation of Latinos in international athletic competitions such as the Olympic Games and Pan American Games. The Hispanic population of the United States grew rapidly during the 1960s and 1970s. By 1980, community and government leaders as well as corporate marketers hailed the coming 10 years as the “decade of the Hispanic.” Chapters 6 and 7 detail the rising presence of Latinos in all of these fields of competition. While this period did not produce equality in the areas of economics, politics, and education, the reforms of previous years did open many doors for Spanish-surnamed men and women in the corporate world, government, and schools. As more and more Latinos took advantage of educational opportunities, the number of Spanish-surnamed students in public schools increased, and so did the number of athletes competing at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Also in chapter 7, we explore the development of Latinos in owner- ship, management, and consumption of sport: Who were some of the first Latinos to lead professional and amateur sport teams? What were their experiences? How and when did Latinos break into ownership of profes- sional sporting franchises in sports like baseball, NASCAR, and minor league teams (including unexpected sports such as minor league hockey)? When and why did advertisers take notice of the Latino sport consumer? With this project, we seek to accomplish something that has never, to our knowledge, been done: to capture and present as complete a his- tory of Latino participation in all facets of American sport as possible. We recognize that we have not been able to capture, analyze, and write about every single key person or event in this history, and we are sure that some readers will question why a particular topic or individual was not mentioned or dealt with in extensive detail. This, unfortunately, is the bane of the historian. All we can say is that we hope to provide a balanced and fair representation of all and hope that this work will inspire others to continue the effort to increase the profile of Latinos in the history of American sport.