This work provides a revealing look at the history of Hispanic peoples in the American West (or, from the Mexican perspective, El Norte) from the period of Spanish colonization through the present day. Hispanics in the American West portrays the daily lives, struggles, and triumphs of Spanish-speaking peoples from the arrival of Spanish conquistadors to the present, highlighting such defining moments as the years of Mexican sovereignty, the Mexican-American War, the coming of the railroad, the great Mexican migration in the early 20th century, the Great Depression, World War II, the Chicano Movement that arose in the mid-1960s, and more. Coverage includes Hispanics of all nationalities (not just Mexican, but Cuban, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan, among others) and ranges beyond the "traditional" Hispanic states (Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado) to look at newer communities of Spanish-speaking peoples in Oregon, Hawaii, and Utah. The result is a portrait of Hispanic American life in the West that is uniquely inclusive, insightful, and surprising. Includes maps, photos, and a comprehensive index as well as biographical sketches within each chapter that personalize the themes, recounting the lives of individuals caught up in the sweep of history Covers Hispanic Americans of all origins, offering discussions of the differences among these groups not found in other publications

Both the U.S. population and Major League Baseball rosters have seen dramatic demographic changes over the past 50 years. The nation and the sport are becoming multilingual, with Spanish the unofficial second language. Today, 21 of 30 MLB teams broadcast at least some games in Spanish. Filling a gap in the literature of baseball, this collection of new essays examines the history of the game in Spanish, from the earliest locutores who called the plays for Latin American audiences to the League's expansion into cities with large Latino populations--Los Angeles, Houston and Miami to name a few--that made talented sportscasters for the fanaticos a business necessity.

The history of baseball is filled with players whose careers were defined by one bad play. Mike Torrez is remembered as the pitcher who gave up the infamous three-run homer to Bucky ""Bleeping"" Dent in the 1978 playoffs tie-breaker between the Red Sox and Yankees. Yet Torrez's life added up to much more than his worst moment on the mound. Coming from a vibrant Mexican American community that settled in Topeka, Kansas, in the early 1900s, he made it to the Majors by his own talent and efforts, with the help of an athletic program for Mexican youth that spread through the Midwest, Texas and Mexico during the 20th century. He was in the middle of many transformative events of the 1970s-such as the rise of free agency-and was an ethnic role model in the years before the ""Fernandomania"" of 1981. This book covers Torrez's life and career as the winningest Mexican American pitcher in Major League history.

In 1927 Cuban national Ignacio S. Molinet was recruited to play with the Frankford Yellow Jackets of the old NFL for a single season. Mexican national Jose Martinez-Zorrilla achieved 1932 All-American honors. These are the beginnings of the Latino experience in American Football, which continues amidst a remarkable and diversified setting of Hispanic nationalities and ethnic groups. This history of Latinos in American Football dispels the myths that baseball, boxing, and soccer are the chosen and competent sports for Spanish-surname athletes. The book documents their fascination for the sport that initially denied their participation but that could not discourage their determination to master the game.

Gabriel "Gabe" Rivera was one of the greatest players in the history of Texas Tech football. He earned All American status, was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame, and saw his name elevated to the Texas Tech Ring of Honor. After his college career, Rivera became a first-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1983, but his career would be tragically cut short by an accident during his rookie year that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Sports historian Jorge Iber's newest book chronicles this Mexican American athlete's rise to prominence and later life. Beginning with the Rivera family in Crystal City, Texas, a hotbed of Chicano activism in the late 1960s, Senor Sack seeks to understand how athletic success impacted the Rivera family's most famous son on his route to stardom. Football provided this family with opportunities that were not often available to other Mexican Americans during the 1940s and 1950s. While Rivera's injury seriously derailed his life, Senor Sack also chronicles his struggle to regain a sense of purpose. With great effort and despite adversity, over the final two decades of his life, Rivera found meaning in helping minority youths in his community of San Antonio, serving as an example of what can be accomplished even under incredibly trying circumstances. Ultimately, the true legacy of Gabe Rivera is not just on the football field, but also in the lives he touched with his volunteer work. One of the most storied Red Raiders and a legend of Texas football, Gabe Rivera powered through many obstacles to make way for future generations of Latinos in American sports.

Tony Romo's place in NFL history is a surprising story, one that Jorge and Raquel Iber tell from its unlikely origins to its happy present in clear language for middle readers. Tony's grandfather was a migrant worker who emigrated from Mexico to Wisconsin, where he and his Texas-born Mexican American spouse fought hardscrabble for a middle-class life. Readers will learn about a Latino/a community's struggles and triumphs in this unlikely midwestern enclave. Unlike other future superstar quarterbacks, Tony didn't get to play for a large city high school team. He was barely noticed by college recruiters, and his only real path to the next level came at a small school, Eastern Illinois University. At EIU, Tony fought his way to become the starting quarterback. The story repeated itself in the NFL, when Tony battled his way from undrafted prospect all the way to All-Pro starting quarterback for the most famous NFL franchise in the world, the Dallas Cowboys. A must-read for young Cowboy fans and their parents, Jorge and Raquel's book places Tony's life story among other famous figures in contemporary American sports. Relive Tony's career, his difficulties and successes. Tony is the quintessential Texas Sport Hero.

Although the Latino/a population of the United States has exploded since the 1960s, an analysis of its place in the history of American sport has, until recently, been sorely underrepresented. The thoughtful and coherent essays in More Than Just Peloteros demonstrate that participation in sport and recreation develops identity and involvement in the lives of Spanish-speaking people throughout what is now the United States. The articles feature accounts of eras and events as varied as the Latino experience itself, including horse racing in colonial San Antonio, boxing in New York City, baseball in the barrios of 1930s Chicago, basketball in a 1950s Arizona mining town, and, of course, high school football in South Texas. As the nation's demographics continue to change, more and more Latinos/as will, undoubtedly, leave their marks on the fields of athletic competition at levels ranging from the local to the professional, the business offices of franchises and colleges, and as general consumers of American sporting events and goods. This volume recognizes and encourages the role that sport and recreation play in the day-to-day existence of Spanish speakers in the United States.

Although the Latino/a population of the United States has exploded since the 1960s, an analysis of its place in the history of American sport has, until recently, been sorely underrepresented. The thoughtful and coherent essays in More Than Just Peloteros demonstrate that participation in sport and recreation develops identity and involvement in the lives of Spanish-speaking people throughout what is now the United States. The articles feature accounts of eras and events as varied as the Latino experience itself, including horse racing in colonial San Antonio, boxing in New York City, baseball in the barrios of 1930s Chicago, basketball in a 1950s Arizona mining town, and, of course, high school football in South Texas. As the nation's demographics continue to change, more and more Latinos/as will, undoubtedly, leave their marks on the fields of athletic competition at levels ranging from the local to the professional, the business offices of franchises and colleges, and as general consumers of American sporting events and goods. This volume recognizes and encourages the role that sport and recreation play in the day-to-day existence of Spanish speakers in the United States.

Latinos and Latinas in American Sport: Stories Beyond Peloteros expands upon the significance of sport in U.S. Latino communities by looking at sports as diverse as drag racing and community softball, the rise of Latinas in high school basketball, and the role of Latinos in protesting social injustice through sport. Although the Latino/a population of the United States has significantly expanded since the 1960s, an analysis of this population's place in the history of American sport has, until recently, been sorely lacking. This second anthology by Jorge Iber adds scope and depth to our understanding of the relationship between sport/recreation and identity and involvement among Spanish-speaking people throughout what is now the United States. The chapters of this volume focus on eras and topics as varied as the Latino experience itself, including the treatment of Mexican athletes arriving in the U.S. for the 1932 Olympics; the importance of youth baseball in an early 1960s southern Texas community; and how the growing Latino presence in the NFL and other professional sports has destabilized the historically black/white dichotomy in U.S. athletics. As the nation's demographics continue to change, more and more Latinos/as are leaving their marks on fields of competition from local to professional, on college and franchise business offices, and on the American sporting event and sporting goods industries. In considering such instances in the particular, this volume further illuminates the roles that sport and recreation play in the day-to-day existence of Spanish speakers in the United States.