Coming into the two readings, Raceball by Rob Ruck, and The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball by Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, There are some things that I did know but there are many things that I did not know at all.
One of the things I knew coming into these readings was the way that baseball was set up in America during the late 1800s. I knew there were few real outlets for black athletes to compete and showcase their talent to fans. But something I did not know is the role that Cuba played in developing some of the nonwhite players in baseball. But more than anything these readings showed me more about the myth-making and the lore behind Cuban baseball.
I did not know that Cuban baseball had this history that was so deeply rooted in what became some myth-making. I am using the term myth because that is what they used in the readings and I interpreted it as another way for storytelling. Especially when The Pride of Havana points out that the initial myth had Americans introducing the game to the Cubans but later on the story would remove them from the myth. I think this goes to show how important stories are to these different cultures. Even in American sports, we have myths and stories of players and moments just like every other country in the world. The concept of myths and storytelling I think is one of the things that makes sports history very important to understanding cultures and their identities.
Something else that I did not know before was that in the 1880s, the Cuban league was a very good league for baseball. It is something that I feel is not mentioned enough in the world of baseball today because it would seem as if these key moments in the Cuban leagues are very important to the growth and development of the game. I am disappointed that it took me this long to learn about this very important part of the history of baseball and the history of Cuba sports.
