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Personality News
By Lindsey Hale
Born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in Florida, Angel Hernandez grew up watching his dad umpire baseball games. In 1993, Hernandez followed in his father’s footsteps and beyond, becoming one of the first Hispanic Major League Baseball umpires.
By Cassidy Lent
Fernando Valenzuela was a nineteen-year-old native from Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico, who had only been in the United States for two years when he entered the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a September call-up in 1980 and pitched 17 2/3 innings without giving up an earned run.
Twelve months later, Fernandomania took the baseball world by storm. And Valenzuela became an overnight sensation.
By Laurel Camean
In the 1940s, World War II caused major league ball players to hang up their cleats and enter military service. Legendary Chicago Cubs owner Phillip Wrigley sought to fill this void in American culture, by establishing the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) in 1943 with teams from Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Historically, baseball had mostly been a white gentleman’s game, but the AAGPBL fostered diversity and acceptance of Latino culture into the United States.
By Kimberly McCray
Venezuela has sent almost 300 players to the big leagues. Yet of all the players hailing from the small South American nation, a select group of high-profile shortstops are Venezuela’s most successful exports. Glove men like Omar Vizquel, Dave Concepcion, Ozzie Guillen and Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio top the list of the position six players that are the pride of the nation.
By Connor O’Gara
Willie Hernandez was part of a baseball revolution in the 1980s. No longer was a starting pitcher expected to finish his battles. Instead, specialty hurlers were called upon in relief to close out games in the late innings. Few executed this new closer position as well as Hernandez, especially in 1984.
By Kimberly McCray
Almost one third of all major leaguers have a Latino heritage. And among Latin American countries, the Dominican Republic has produced more Latino baseball talent than any other.
By Connor O’Gara
All nine players on a baseball field impact the game in a different way. Some do it with stellar defense, some do it with steady power in the middle of the lineup and others make their presence felt on the mound.
Epy Guerrero, on the other hand, made his presence felt outside the white lines by discovering those players. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native revolutionized Major League Baseball scouting in a career that spanned four decades.
By Lindsey Hale
The Little League World Series is held every year in Williamsport, Pa., and teams from the all over the world compete to play for the championship.
In 1957, Angel Macias led Mexico to the championship – the first international team to claim the title.
By Jackson Malnati
“If a man put a gun to my head and said I’m going to pull the trigger if you lose this game, I’d want Luis Tiant to pitch that game.”
By Max Miller
Saturnino Orestes Arrieta Armas Minoso, better known as Minnie, is recognized today as the first dark-skinned Latin player to play Major League Baseball. As such, Minoso blazed a trail – not unlike Jackie Robinson – for thousands of players who followed him to the big leagues.
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This Day in Baseball History
On May 18, 1956, Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the third time in his career, setting a major league record. Mantle’s day includes four hits in four at-bats, helping the New York Yankees to an 8-7 win over the Chicago White Sox.