“From la bomba to béisbol: sport and the Americanisation of Puerto Rico,1898–1950” is an article in the The International Journal of the History of Sport, written by Roberta J. Park. Park discusses the influence of American baseball in Puerto Rico, especially during wartime and after the Spanish-American War in 1898. She argues that growth of American sports were a direct consequence of Puerto Rico being brought into global affairs. Events like World War II allowed for the faltering of Catholicism and growth of “Americanisation”. Parks details the increase in participation in many sports in Puerto Rico including horse racing and cock fighting. I knew that American influence was present after the Spanish American war, but I had not realized the affect that American sports had on the general population in Puerto Rico. I also had not realized that it somewhat changed views on Catholicism in the country, especially through the influence of the YMCA. The YMCA gave a means for Presbyterianism to grow, but it is noted that it did not have much affect on the masses.
Park quotes historian Raymond Carr, “Although ‘radical
independentistas’ (those Puerto Ricans who want independence from the United
States) might agree that the replacing of ‘lethargic and conformist Catholicism’ by
teachers from the mainland had done ‘much for Puerto Rico’, Carr contends that
most have been of the opinion that the teachers were largely ‘agents of Americanization’.” This quote in the conclusion provides good insight to the mindset of some Puerto Ricans during the early 20th century. Another informative quote surrounding the growth of sports teams in the country during wartime states, “Meets that involved baseball, basketball and track were held regularly. According to Osuna, by 1913 there were 44 school teams in baseball, 18 in track and two in basketball. By 1914–15, the
numbers had grown to 73 in baseball, 39 in track, and 58 in basketball.”
The author does a great job providing in depth statistics about the growth of various sports. These statistics allow readers to see the impact that Americanisation had in Puerto Rico, especially in various economic classes.
