Mexican American Baseball In Orange County

Images of Baseball: Mexican American Baseball in Orange County celebrates the once-vibrant culture of baseball and softball teams from Placentia, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Westminster, San Juan Capistrano, and nearby towns. Baseball allowed men and women to showcase their athletic and leadership skills, engaged family members, and enabled community members to develop social and political networks. Players from the barrios and colonias of La Fábrica, Campo Colorado, La Jolla, Logan, Cypress Street, El Modena, and La Colonia Independencia, among others, affirmed their Mexican and American identities through their sport. Such legendary teams as the Placentia Merchants, the Juveniles of La Habra, the Lionettes de Orange, the Toreros of Westminster, and the Road Kings of Colonia 17th made weekends memorable. Players and their families helped create the economic backbone and wealth evident in Orange County today. This book sheds light on powerful images and stories of the Mexican American community.

Images of Baseball: Mexican American Baseball in Orange County celebrates the once-vibrant culture of baseball and softball teams from Placentia, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Westminster, San Juan Capistrano, and nearby towns. Baseball allowed men and women to showcase their athletic and leadership skills, engaged family members, and enabled community members to develop social and political networks. Players from the barrios and colonias of La Fabrica, Campo Colorado, La Jolla, Logan, Cypress Street, El Modena, and La Colonia Independencia, among others, affirmed their Mexican and American identities through their sport. Such legendary teams as the Placentia Merchants, the Juveniles of La Habra, the Lionettes de Orange, the Toreros of Westminster, and the Road Kings of Colonia 17th made weekends memorable. Players and their families helped create the economic backbone and wealth evident in Orange County today. This book sheds light on powerful images and stories of the Mexican American community."

Images of Baseball: Mexican American Baseball in Orange County celebrates the once-vibrant culture of baseball and softball teams from Placentia, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Westminster, San Juan Capistrano, and nearby towns. Baseball allowed men and women to showcase their athletic and leadership skills, engaged family members, and enabled community members to develop social and political networks. Players from the barrios and colonias of La Fábrica, Campo Colorado, La Jolla, Logan, Cypress Street, El Modena, and La Colonia Independencia, among others, affirmed their Mexican and American identities through their sport. Such legendary teams as the Placentia Merchants, the Juveniles of La Habra, the Lionettes de Orange, the Toreros of Westminster, and the Road Kings of Colonia 17th made weekends memorable. Players and their families helped create the economic backbone and wealth evident in Orange County today. This book sheds light on powerful images and stories of the Mexican American community.

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.

Mexican American Baseball in the Inland Empire celebrates the thriving culture of former teams from Pomona, Ontario, Cucamonga, Chino, Claremont, San Bernardino, Colton, Riverside, Corona, Beaumont, and the Coachella Valley. From the early 20th century through the 1950s, baseball diamonds in the Inland Empire provided unique opportunities for nurturing athletic and educational skills, ethnic identity, and political self-determination for Mexican Americans during an era of segregation. Legendary men's and women's teams--such as the Corona Athletics, San Bernardino's Mitla Café, the Colton Mercuries, and Las Debs de Corona--served as an important means for Mexican American communities to examine civil and educational rights and offer valuable insight on social, cultural, and gender roles. These evocative photographs recall the often-neglected history of Mexican American barrio baseball clubs of the Inland Empire.

This volume pays homage to the wonderful teams and players from Azusa, La Verne, Claremont, Pomona, Chino, Cucamonga, Ontario, and Upland. A common thread of all these diverse communities was the establishment of baseball teams and, later, softball teams. Baseball played a critical role in advancing civil and political rights, labor reform, gender equality, educational integration, and cultural legitimacy. These remarkable photographs revive the often-overlooked history of Mexican American baseball in the Greater Pomona Valley.

Mexican American Baseball in Ventura County pays tribute to the legendary teams and players from Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Santa Paula, and other surrounding neighborhoods. From the early 20th century through the 1950s, baseball in Ventura County safeguarded opportunities for nurturing athletic and educational skills, asserting ethnic identity, promoting political self-confidence, developing economic autonomy, and redefining gender roles for women. Outside the ball field, these players and their families helped create the multibillion-dollar agricultural wealth that relied heavily on their backbreaking labor. These extraordinary photographs and remarkable stories shed unparalleled light on the long and rich history of baseball and softball in this celebrated region of California.

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.