New Books In Latino Studies

There are two key elements of today’s professional baseball that are informed by Lou Hernandez’s wonderful book Bobby Maduro and the Cuban Sugar Kings (McFarland, 2019): the increased presence of Latinos both on the field and off in MLB, and the interest of MLB to promote its game internationally, particularly in places such as Latin America. The life and career of Bobby Maduro sheds light on both of these topics. First, Maduro was greatly responsible for the Cuban League’s recognition by professional baseball (in the US). Within this framework, many Americanos played baseball in Cuba, and were exposed to the level of talent not only from that nation, but from elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking baseball world. This helped open the door to even more Latinos to make it into the higher levels of the minors, as well as eventually into the Majors. Second, Maduro was responsible for bringing AAA-level competition to Cuba. With the positive response of the fans (even in the midst of revolutionary turmoil), it did see