Moscato: Historic images of béisbol in Mexico
From M.G. Moscato at The Hardball Times on October 8, 2018:
As it stands, these photographs represent a significant piece of history—a history of the international game that is baseball. The following photos provide insights into early Mexican baseball, including the Mexican Baseball League (or Liga Mexicana de Béisbol). The photos date back at least as far as 1915 and continue on through the 1940s.
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Mexican professional baseball reached a pinnacle in the 1940s, thanks largely to the efforts of Jorge Pasquel. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that during this time Jorge Pasquel was Mexican baseball. In South of the Color Barrier, John Virtue noted that Pasquel has been “likened to a latter day major league owner, the Yankees’ George Steinbrenner.” That comparison may greatly underestimate Pasquel’s achievements. True, the two men shared a similar, albeit very general, life path: “both were athletes before inheriting family businesses that they made profitable enough to afford owning a baseball team.” However, the man synonymous with the golden age of Mexican baseball “bettered Steinbrenner” in that Pasquel “actually donned a baseball uniform and managed his team on several occasions.”
Of course it’s in baseball’s opposing legacies of racial segregation versus integration where Pasqual really stands apart from other team owners of the time, even next to a Branch Rickey or just about anyone else in major league history employed in a leadership position
Read the full article here: https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/historic-images-of-beisbol-in-mexico-star-negro-leaguers-house-of-david-and-more-photo-rarities-from-mexico-part-iii/
Click here to read part 1 and part 2 in the series.
Originally published: October 8, 2018. Last Updated: October 8, 2018.