¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues Part 1: Field of Dreams

This five-part series takes audiences on a journey into the heart of American baseball to understand how generations of Latinas/os have helped make the game what it is today.

Throughout the last century, Latinas and Latinos have used baseball to chase their dreams, challenge prejudice, and build communities.

Whether in the barrios or the big leagues, in rural backyards or barn-storming travel teams, they left a mark on how we see, hear, and play the game.

For over a century in the United States and Latin America, baseball provided a way for Latinos to reach for better futures by making and seizing opportunities.

Playing the sport in local leagues brought freedom from discrimination experienced off the field, opportunities to be recognized for talent on the field, and communities that provided support and shared language. In agriculture and industry, workers used the baseball field as a space to organize for rights and justice.

During a time of segregation and discrimination—a period when major league baseball’s segregation policy blocked Latinos from participating—Latinos developed community, semiprofessional, and professional baseball leagues of their own.

Baseball often provided a social network and a break from discrimination in the larger world. Wherever they lived, Latinas/os persistently made the baseball diamond their place to play and enjoy their freedoms. Finding freedom on the field, however, was more than a simple march toward acceptance.

Many Latinas/os made do with what they had on hand to play the game. 

For some families, like the Martinez clan, fabricating their own equipment reflected deep appreciation for the game and afforded them a certain kind of freedom despite meager family finances—they did not have to borrow or save money to purchase new equipment.

Ernie Martinez restitched this glove three different times so the family could continue to use it.

The “Peace Keeper” bat was so named because whoever held the bat had the final say in any disagreements on the field.

Notice the markings on the bat?  

Young Howard Martinez and his father, Leopoldo, carefully blow-torched darkened patterns on the bat to make a tortoise-shell design.

When it broke, Howard and his brothers hammered and glued it back together again.

When racism and discrimination barred Latinas/os from joining baseball leagues, they created their own teams. In the early 1900s in East Harlem, New York, primarily Puerto Rican, African American, and Dominican communities responded by creating their own game: stickball.

Spalding balls were sold at bodegas around East Harlem and The Bronx, New York.

This slugger’s bat, made of a broom handle and bicycle inner tube, was used in leagues in New York, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

In Kansas City, the local American Legion post barred Mexican American GIs returning from World War II from joining the veterans’ group. In response, they made their own Post #213, called the Eagles Nest, which included a baseball field.

In 2016, seeing the beloved Eagles Nest baseball field falling into disrepair, Chris González spearheaded a revitalization that served as a testament to the Post #213’s legacy and the power of baseball in a local community.

The new field regularly hosts fast-pitch softball tournaments and games.

A Kansas City Royals equipment manager gave these cleats to Eagles player Chris González. He wore them in every game, even though they were two sizes too small.