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)
Buying Links:
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