Richard A. Santillan - Mexican American Baseball in the San Fernando Valley

MEXICAN AMERICAN
BASEBALL IN THE
SAN FERNANDO
VALLEY

IN THIS PART OF LIFE CALLED BASEBALL

On Monday to the orchards and fields we go

Digging and planting

Picking and packing

Vivir para trabajar

Trabajar para vivir

On Sunday to Santa Rosa Church we go

Mothers and Fathers

Sisters and Brothers

Praying and giving thanks

Taking nothing for granted

After church to Las Palmas Park we go

The dirt diamond is our treasure

A wooden bat and string ball

Hitting and running

Sliding and scoring

Our familia is cheering us to go

Winning or Losing

But ours is never lost

For we have perseverance

Not discrimination but validation

In this part of life called baseball

Victoria Carrillo Norton

Spring 2015

FRONT COVER: William F. Miranda played second base for San Fernando High School, the Illinois Cleaners, and the San Fernando Missions. He was a descendant of one of the escort soldiers from the second Anza Expedition to Alta California in 1775. He served in World War II and worked for Lockheed until he retired. (Courtesy of William F. Miranda.)

COVER BACKGROUND: The Pacoima Athletics formed after World War II and played every Sunday at Pacoima Park until the early 1950s. Team ace Pete Prieto (first row, third from left, wearing jacket) worked as a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department and was the assistant recreational director for Pacoima Park in the late 1940s. (Courtesy of Pete Prieto.)

BACK COVER: The 1937 Van Nuys Texas Grocery team lines up at the Van Nuys ball field. The Ruiz sistersBeatrice, Virginia, Lillian, and Alicecome from a long-standing baseball and softball family. Their aunt Mary Cano played for a Simons Brickyard baseball team in Montebello in the 1910s. (Courtesy of Virginia Ruiz Durazo and Jackie Durazo Murphy.)

MEXICAN AMERICAN
BASEBALL IN THE
SAN FERNANDO
VALLEY

Richard A. Santilln, Victoria C. Norton,
Christopher Docter, Monica Ortez, and Richard Arroyo
Foreword by Everto Ruiz

Copyright 2015 by Richard A. Santilln, Victoria C. Norton, Christopher Docter, Monica
Ortez, and Richard Arroyo
ISBN 978-1-4671-3452-1
Ebook ISBN 9781439653982

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015948007

For all general information, please contact Arcadia Publishing:
Telephone 843-853-2070
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For my grandparents, Jos and Benita Santilln, Francisco and Savina Oviedo, and to my incredible wife, Teresa, who has brought nothing but sunshine and happiness to my life.

Richard S.

For my beloved parents, Alice Budgie Lyon and Albert Reyes Carrillo, both born and raised in the old town of San Fernando.

Victoria

For my beloved grandparents Paul and Rachel Cruz, who met at the tomato packinghouse in old town San Fernando in 1920 and celebrated 68 years of marriage in the city of San Fernando, and especially my wife, Ruth, who supported me through this amazing project.

Richard A.

For the tremendous Docter familyI love you all.

Christopher

To my father, Ray Ortez, for his dedication and love of baseball and softball during the Old-Timers Era, 1930s and 1940s. To my mother, Florence Edith Ortez, for her support of Dads ball career and for preserving those memories for our family.

Monica

For my tio Rubn Ruiz, my brother Rubn L. Ruiz, and my neighbor Epimenia Pepper Delgado, who gave their all on the baseball field.

Veto

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

Tira la bola, Brbula, trala. This was the animated exclamation that my older brother, Ruben, would frequently shout to his teammate in his dreams, revealing the degree to which playing baseball consumed him. This manifestation of his enthusiasm for the game was no doubt a common occurrence in many families in the San Fernando Valley, where young men and women constantly lived and breathed baseball and softball.

The city of San Fernandos premiere baseball diamond, well known in the Los Angeles area, sat alongside the very railroad tracks that literally separated the Mexican American barrio from the rest of the community. While my hometown took decades to creep out of the practice of residential segregation and discrimination in the workplace, it was on the baseball diamond at San Fernando Recreation Park that Mexican American ballplayers could compete on a level playing field. There, you were judged by your athletic ability and talent rather than your ethnic background. It was there that my dad would go on Sunday afternoons and join friends, relatives, and, on occasion, talent scouts from professional teams, to watch my brother, uncles, and neighbors play baseball.

Mexican American Baseball in the San Fernando Valley is yet another publication in a series of Mexican American baseball books that reveals our communitys longtime involvement and unrestrained love with this American pastime through previously unpublished photographs, astonishing stories, and incredible documents. As shown in the following pages, this was not only a competitive and entertaining experience in the local community, but it also gave Valley ballplayers the unique opportunity to travel and play other teams, from the San Joaquin Valley to the Mexico border. We are fortunate and grateful to those families and friends who made these extraordinary photographs and wonderful memories of loved ones available to us for this publication.

Everto Ruiz

Professor of Chicano Studies

California State University, Northridge

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The foundation of this project to publicize the rich history of Mexican American baseball and softball in the San Fernando Valley is due to the remarkable work of the Latino Baseball History Project at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). Others who supported this effort include the following individuals and staff and CSUSBs John M. Pfau Library: Dean Cesar Caballero and Sue Caballero, Jill Vassilakos-Long (head of archives and special collections), Iwona Contreras, Ericka Saucedo, Amina Romero, Carrie Lowe, Manny Vern, Brandy Montoya, Hayley Parke, John Baumann, and Stacy Magtedanz.

The authors are indebted to the players and families who provided the treasures of photographs and extraordinary oral histories. These dedicated individuals and groups include the following: Estella Lyon Maas, Joe Govea, William F. Miranda, Alice Cruz Bacon, Della Ortega, Maria Carrillo, Mary Jo Moss, Andy Alba, Kristy S. Brquez, Robert Brquez, Marianne Castro Lawson, Sylvia Verdugo Ramrez, Geraldine Reyes Nez, Everto Ruiz, Carolyn and Gary Snchez, George and Miyeko Tamura, Lorrie Carrillo, John Fonseca, Sandra Savala, Rita Delgado, James V. Verdugo Jr., Kimberly Norton, Cecilia Garca, Fred C. Rico, David and Julie Gonzles, Pinney Garca Jr., Christine Pinki Puga, Karole Obrikat, Virginia Barragn, Francisco Chico Cruz Sr., Paul and Rachel Cruz, Pauline Cruz Arroyo, Hazel Cruz Lemus, Betty Cruz Woodson, Dorothy Cruz Hatley, Cecilia Cruz Arroyo, Elaine (Arroyo) and Gene Bond, Erica Arroyo, Jennifer Arroyo, Grace and Robert Ayon Sr., Paul Ruelas, Cecil and Victoria Cruz, Francisco Cruz Jr., Robert Cruz, David Cruz, Michael Bacon, Theresa Alicia Bacon, Elvira Camarillo Orozco, Julie Orozco Ruelas, Jeffrey Lawerence Cornejo Jr., Jess Ruiz, Rita and Rubn R. Ruiz, Stella and Rubn J. Ruiz, Jesse H. vila, Joffee Garca, Tommy and Linda Tapia, Rudy Aragn, Ramona Cervantes, Richard Docter, Mary Jane Muro, Pete Prieto, Tony Servera, Alex Senz, Rosie Alderete Rico, Cece Gonzlez, Olivia Ruiz, Virginia Barry, Marie Acebo, Michael Norton, David Garca, Moses Guzmn, John Martnez, Julie Fernndez, Joe Fernndez, Armida Encinas, Speedy Gonzles, Rachel Jimnez, Art Castaeda, Marty Cortinas, Bill Skiles, Skip Wrightson, Margaret Amescua, Theresa Tresierras Durazo, Ray Barraza Jr., Lorraine Barraza, Benny Salas, Connie Lugo Ferrer, Gloria Montaz-Lpez, Eddie Prieto, Socorro Cano, Mario Cano Jr., Kasey khaghany, Rosie Daz, Bob Calzada, Gena Avalos Calzada, Gloria Gonzles, Armando Valencia, Richard F. Encinas, Linda Encinas Hernndez, Terry Hernndez, Rita Hernndez Ontiveros, Jackie Durazo Murphy, Virginia Ruiz Durazo, Arnold Durazo, Ray Barraza, Ron Regalado, Minnie Moreno, Tony Dvila, Bobby Lujan, Dick Santoyo, John Lara, Jerry Nieblas, CeCe Nieblas-Vsquez, Teeter Romero, Mrs. Eddie Reyes, John G. Hrate, Paul Salazar, Maria T. Sols-Martnez, Jim Segovia, Richard Mndez, Jodi Della Marna, Orange Coast College Archives, Little Landers SunlandTujunga Historical Society, San Fernando Valley Historical Society, A. Bartlett Giamatti Research CenterNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, San Fernando Museum of Art and History, St. Ferdinards Fifty-Plus Group, and the San Fernando Recreation and Park Department. We recognize again our in-house editor, Elisa Grajeda-Urmston, for her tireless and professional work; and our utmost appreciation goes to our technical consultant, Monse Segura. Last but not least, our heartfelt gratitude goes to Arcadia Publishing and to our remarkable and patient contacts thereMichael Kinsella, Tim Sumerel, and Jeff Ruetsche.