The New Face of Baseball

Here are the stories of Latino athletes in Baseball -- who they are & how they helped transform the sport into what it is today. Going back to the mid-19th cent., to the early days of Cuban baseball, Wendel traces the spread of Amer. baseball fever in Mexico, & the Caribbean, & discusses lesser-known historical standouts. Describes the days when only light-skinned Latinos were allowed to participate in Major League competition, & the linguistic barrier Latinos were confronted with when playing on teams with ''English-only'' rules inside their dugouts. Features: Roberto Clemente, Fernando Valenzuela, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Alfonso Soriano, & the Hernandez brothers. Also, the first Latino All-Century Team. Ill.