Month: June 2015
Baseball, softball played significant roles in Mexican-American culture
by Murrel Bland
Mexican-Americans, including those from Wyandotte County, made substantial contributions to softball and baseball during the 20th Century.
That was the conclusion of Gene Chavez of Shawnee, who is documenting the history of Mexican-American teams who played in Kansas. He made a presentation about these efforts at a quarterly membership meeting of the Wyandotte County Historical Society, Sunday, June 14, at the Wyandotte County Museum, Bonner Springs. About 75 persons attended.
Chavez said Mexican-Americans had to overcome discrimination in employment, education and athletic competition. After World War II, a group of military veterans wanted to join an American Legion post in the Argentine community, but were denied membership. So they formed their own and sponsored a youth baseball team.
When Jackie Robinson was hired as the first black baseball player in Major League Baseball, that opened the sport to other minorities including Mexican-Americans, Chavez said. The Brooklyn Dodgers hired Robinson in 1947.
Chavez said not many people knew that Ted Williams’ mother, May Venzor, was a Mexican-American who was born in El Paso, Texas. Williams was the last of the “400 hitters” who had a lifetime batting average of .344.
One of the most outstanding Major League Mexican-American players was Mike Torrez, who was from Topeka. He pitched in two successful World Series games in 1977 as the Yankees defeated the Los Angles Dodgers. Torrez also pitched for the New York Mets, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics.
Former members of teams from the Argentine community recently were successful in winning a grant for about $10,000 from the Hollywood Casino that will be used to restore an old softball field.
Chavez said that the Kansas Humanities Council is sponsoring this research and a documentary film. This is part of a larger national effort that the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is conducting.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is a trustee of The Wyandotte County Historical Society.
Laredo shuts out T-Bones in final series game
The Kansas City T-Bones, won the series, but dropped the finale Sunday night, 4-0 to Laredo at Uni-Trade Stadium in Texas.
The Lemurs took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, and never let go. Tony Delmonico doubled to start the inning, off Kansas City starting pitcher Casey Barnes, and scored on a Luke Bailey RBI single. Laredo would tack on additional one-run in the fifth inning, when Delmonico connected on his sixth home-run of the season.
Down 4-0, the T-Bones had runners on first and second in the eigth inning, but Lemur starting pitcher Omar Bencomo got Ryan Cavan to ground-out to end the threat.
Bencomo (3-0) pitched eight scoreless innings, and allowed just five total baserunners. Casey Barnes (2-2) took the loss for Kansas City, and was charged with four runs in five-plus innings.
Jake Blackwood and Vladimir Frias each had two hits for Kansas City.
The T-Bones (8-13), continue the seven-game roadtrip to Joplin (13-8) on Monday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
The T-Bones return home June 19 for a three-game homestand. Tickets are available at www.tbonesbaseball.com.