Far From Home: Latino Baseball Players in America - Inspiring Stories of MLB Stars | Baseball Biographies & Immigrant Athlete Journeys | Perfect for Sports Fans & History Enthusiasts

When you think of baseball, you think of ... National Geographic?Maybe you should.The National Geographic Society has been associated with excellent publications for years, of course. "Far From Home" won't damage that reputation one bit.This look at Latino baseball over the years has the two elements that you might expect in such a publication: good writing and beautiful, stare-at-them-for-a-while photographs.First, the text. Veteran writer Tim Wendel has become something of an authority on baseball in the Caribbean and its effect on the sport on this side of the Gulf of Mexico. He previously had a book and a novel to his credit.He gives a brisk, factual accounting of the subject here. Baseball in the region started back in the 1870's, and eventually found more than a home. It's a way of life.Some of the best parts of the text deal with the history of Cuban baseball. What's been forgotten about Jackie Robinson's historic breakthrough for people of color in the majors is that the door also opened for Latins. So suddenly players like Minnie Minoso, Roberto Clemente and Luis Aparicio were thrilling American audiences. It raised the question, what did we miss?Now, if you took away players from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Mexico, you almost wouldn't recognize the sport. Baseball without Albert Pujols? David Ortiz? Pedro Martinez? Miguel Cabrera? Unthinkable.Then there are the photographs. Some of the old pictures are particularly charming and must have taken some digging to find. The shots from stadiums in the Caribbean are particularly interesting, since we don't get that vantage point too often. There's one funny shot of Fidel Castro, playing in an exhibition game and hustling down to first base. It's followed by several shots of today's stars that could be posters.Jose Luis Villegas chips in with some fine shots that mostly concentrate on Miguel Tejada when he was in the minors. The book ends with some sharp new portraits of players from yesterday and today. Some wouldn't be out of place at a photo exhibit."Far From Home" checks in at only 160 pages, so it can be read in a night. But you'll probably go back to this first-class job frequently once it lands on your bookshelf. A solid job, all the way around.