Dr. Mark A. Ocegueda, assistant professor at Sacramento State University, will present his new book “Mexican American Baseball in Sacramento” at the Center for Sacramento History on May 30. The book explores the history of Mexican American sports community in Sacramento region.
By the 1920s every California barrio — a Spanish word for neighborhood or region — had at least one Mexican baseball team. In Sacramento, as Mexicans worked at the Southern Pacific Railroad, canneries, packing houses, and agricultural communities within the central valley, baseball served as the primary recreational and leisure activity, according to the book.
The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. at Center for Sacramento History (551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.). Attendees will have a chance to meet Ocegueda along with former baseball players and their families from the community.
“Baseball has served as a valuable space for community and ethnic pride for Mexicans and Mexican Americans,” Ocegueda said. “Overall, this book and the presentation utilizes baseball as a lens to tell a wider history about Mexicans in Sacramento.”
The book is laid out as a photo journal that serves as one of the first efforts to present the history of Mexican American baseball and softball in Sacramento.
A special exhibition will be on display at City Hall from May 6 to the end of August 2019.
Tickets are $15 for general admission and $12 for students and members of the Center for Sacramento History. Purchase event tickets here.