Episode Eight: History is Always Living in the Present

The Negro Leagues are Major Leagues

On this week's episode, Curtis is joined by Adrian Burgos, a professor at the University of Illinois who specializes in US-Latino history. He's written two books: Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line and Cuban Star: How One Negro League Owner Changed the Face of Baseball about the history of Latinos in US professional baseball.

Curtis and Adrian discuss how the history of Latino baseball intersects with the Negro Leagues. In the early 20th century, many Latino players found themselves shut out of the AL and NL behind the white major leagues's color line, but they found a place in the Negro Leagues. Dr. Burgos digs into the fascinating history of Latino players working with Black players to create a different kind of culture and game, how the color line operated with regards to Latino players, and some of the long-term ramifications of the way the AL and NL went about integration.

Follow Adrian on Twitter at @adburgosjr, and check out his article, where he digs further into this topic, on our website.