Baseball with a Latin Beat: A History of the Latin American Game [Paperback]

Peter C. Bjarkman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994

Since Cuba's Esteban Bellan made his debut for the Troy Haymakers of the National Association in 1871, Latin Americans have played a large role in the major leagues. Nearly 15 percent of big league rosters are made up of Latinos, while the region's colorful and competitive winter leagues have been a proving ground for up-and-coming major league players and managers. Early Latin American stars were barred purely because of the color of their skin from playing in the major leagues. Players such as Jose Mendez and Martin Dihigo (the only player elected to the U.S., Cuban and Mexican halls of fame) made their marks on the Negro Leagues, turning the leagues' barnstorming tours into major attractions in many Caribbean countries. This history of the players and events that make up the rich tradition of Latin American baseball gives a unique insight to this long-neglected area of baseball.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A retrospective...and a look at the lore of the winter leagues” --USA Today Sports Weekly

“A valuable summary of Latin American contributors to U.S. baseball” --Choice

About the Author

Peter C. Bjarkman, of West Lafayette, Indiana, is one of the national pastime's senior-ranking historians.

Product Details

• Paperback: 486 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899509738
• ISBN-13: 978-0899509730
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,617,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Bjarkman is widely recognized as a leading authority on Cuban baseball, both pre- and post-revolution. He has covered the Cuban League and the Cuban national team for the popular website www.BaseballdeCuba.com since 2007 and has traveled widely with the Cubnan national team to international tournaments for the past fifteen years. His volume entitled A HISTORY OF CUBAN BASEBALL, 1864-2006 (McFarland, 2007) is universally considered the seminal work on the history of the island nation's national pastime. Bjarkman has also written widely over the past 20 years on Latin American baseball, major league baseball, and NCAA and NBA basketball. He has appeared in numerous television and radio interviews and in more than a dozen documentary films on baseball and basketball history. Bjarkman can also be found at www.bjarkman.com, www.BaseballdeCuba.com, and on his popular MLB Blog (Bjarkman's Latino and Cuban Baseball History Page) which has been an MLB "Top 100 Blog Site" for the past two years (2008, 2009).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive Study on Latin Baseball, November 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Baseball with a Latin Beat: A History of the Latin American Game (Paperback)

With its intimate portraits of the top latino stars, its detailed history of latinos in the majors and baseball's evolution in Latin American countries, and its detailed historical appendices, this book is the unrivaled definitive history of the Latino invasion of the North American pastime.