Saturday, April 11, 2020

Review of "Isabel 'Lefty' Alvarez"

With the lack of sporting events now being performed, the next best thing to do is read about sports. The baseball lover in me is finding that while I am missing the games, it allows me to find more baseball books on different areas.  This one about a young Cuban woman who played in the AAGBPL was a very interesting look at her life. Here is my review of "Isabel 'Lefty' Alvarez"

Title/Author:
“Isabel ‘Lefty’ Alvarez: The Improbable Life of a Cuban-American Baseball Star” by Kat D. Williams

Tags:
Baseball, professional, biography, women’s sports

Publish date:
May 1, 2020

Length:
224 pages

Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:
The film “A League of Their Own” was the introduction of the All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) to many people. While the movie was a decent look at life for the women who played hardball, real life for players was not always what was portrayed in the movie.  One such woman was Isabel “Lefty” Alvarez, who played her first game in the league when she was a 15 year old away from her homeland of Cuba for the first time.  Her story is one that makes for a very interesting book.

Author Kat D. Williams takes much of her material for the book from her interviews and later friendship with Lefty – the name Williams uses throughout the book. This is the complete story of not only Lefty’s life in both Cuba and the United States, but it also contains much material on the history of baseball in Cuba and also a deep look at some of the political upheaval in Cuba, especially with the overthrow of the Batista government in 1959.  That was important in Lefty’s childhood as her father Prudencio worked for Batista’s police force and had to switch careers when he was overthrown. Between this and Lefty’s mother’s wish for Lefty to have a middle class life, Lefty was placed into job interviews and proposals that were not for her.  When her mother Virtudes let her play sports, that became the identity Lefty needed in order to have some type of career.

Identity is a common theme throughout the book, as Williams talks frequently about Lefty was constantly struggling with her true identity. Baseball was what ended up being her calling to go to the United States (at her mom’s urging) and she was able to play with the Chicago Colleens, a barnstorming AAGPBL team.  That team was like a minor league team for the major leagues, but Lefty did well enough that she not only came back for a second year, but she played for the Fort Wayne Daisies in the “big leagues”

Lefty faced the challenges all Latino ballplayers face when coming to the United States for the first time – a new environment in a big city and knowing little or no English. Because players in the AAGPBL either roomed together for living quarters or were billeted with a family, Lefty made an impression on many people, but because of her insecurities, she had a hard time making true friends or developing relationships. 

This aspect of her life was well illustrated by Williams, as was Lefty’s life after the demise of the AAGPBL. Whether it was her new identity as a factory worker, which she did until her retirement in 1979, her battles with alcoholism or later her joyful reunion with many of her AAGPBL alumni, the reader will be right there with Lefty as she ends up carving out that middle class existence that her mother wanted for her. One very nice tidbit Williams adds is that Lefty was one of the actual AAGPBL players who made a cameo appearance in “A League of Their Own” during the reunion scene at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

One other notable item about the book is the format.  There is a lot of information about not only the Cuban revolution but also the history of Cuban baseball.  While it seems like these topics would not relevant to Lefty’s life, they were as Lefty insisted that Williams include them in the book. That statement, and how Williams was true to Lefty’s legacy, is what makes this book a very good read.  It is not only about a baseball player in the AAGPBL, but also about a young Latino woman who makes good in America. 

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
                                                                       
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)                                                                                                                               

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