Latino Baseball Legends

Profiles some of baseball's present and past superstars who are from Spanish-speaking countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico, including Roberto Clemente, the Alou brothers, and Miguel Tejada.

Major league baseball has exploded into a truly international sport, and at the vanguard stand legions of ballplayers native to Spanish-speaking Latin American nations. This book features over 500 profiles of the most influential Latino figures in baseball, including ball players, team and league officials, managers, and sportswriters.

Told through profiles of the men who have made it a reality, this is the complex story of the triumphs achieved by—and challenges faced by—Latinos who have risen to the heights of Major League Baseball. Latino Baseball Legends: An Encyclopedia offers the most comprehensive, go-to source for everything relating to Latin American baseball stars, tracing the history of Latinos in baseball through the stories of those who have excelled at the game. Colorfully written 3,000-word entries explore the lives and careers of 25 dominant players, from legends such as Roberto Clemente to deserving, but comparatively unknown superstars such as Martin Dihigo. Shorter listings note another 75 Latinos who have figured prominently in the sport. The entries document the importance of baseball in Latin American culture and the way it has evolved in the players' home countries, but the encyclopedia does more than that. Its profiles also expose the difficulties faced by Latino players who are forced to overcome both a language barrier and the discrimination they face because of their skin color. And they demonstrate how proficiency with a bat and ball has become a great engine that can lift families out of poverty and provide hope for indigent youths.

Told through profiles of the men who have made it a reality, this is the complex story of the triumphs achieved by—and challenges faced by—Latinos who have risen to the heights of Major League Baseball. Latino Baseball Legends: An Encyclopedia offers the most comprehensive, go-to source for everything relating to Latin American baseball stars, tracing the history of Latinos in baseball through the stories of those who have excelled at the game. Colorfully written 3,000-word entries explore the lives and careers of 25 dominant players, from legends such as Roberto Clemente to deserving, but comparatively unknown superstars such as Martin Dihigo. Shorter listings note another 75 Latinos who have figured prominently in the sport. The entries document the importance of baseball in Latin American culture and the way it has evolved in the players' home countries, but the encyclopedia does more than that. Its profiles also expose the difficulties faced by Latino players who are forced to overcome both a language barrier and the discrimination they face because of their skin color. And they demonstrate how proficiency with a bat and ball has become a great engine that can lift families out of poverty and provide hope for indigent youths.

Photographer Villegas and sportswriter Wendel dramatically reveal the energy, talent, and hard-driving ambition of baseball players from Venezuela to the Dominican Republic, both the few who make it and the many who don't.

Presents profiles of fourteen Latino baseball players who, from 1900 through the 1960s, were pioneers of the sport in their home countries and the United States.

Describes the famous Latino Major League Baseball players from 1871 to the present.

Learn about a man who many people said was born to play baseball because of his extraordinary throwing, fielding, and hitting.