Mayas and Baseball

                                                                                 Photo: Asocicion MAYAB

This is an article I am writing for New America Media and (possibly!) PRI's The World....

The World Baseball Classic, the quadrennial tournament where teams representing countries around the world clash, is in full swing. Among the fans most avidly following the action and most vociferously cheering Team Mexico (which was recently eliminated) are Yucatec Mayans. 

Yucatán is an anomaly: in the rest of Mexico, soccer is life. The country is "infested by soccer," as one Yucateco put it. But in Yucatán, baseball reins supreme. For the millions of indigenous Mayans who have called Yucatán home since before the arrival of the Spanish, and hundreds of thousands of them who have emigrated to the United States and elsewhere, the sport is quite significant.

"Baseball is an important element of Mayan culture," says Alberto Perez, the Director of Programs of Asociacion MAYAB, a Bay Area Yucatec Maya organization. In Yucatán, baseball is hugely popular and almost all Yucatecos are fans or players. In the United States, he says, "It is almost like an underground movement," a way for Mayas to represent their people and display their vast cultural differences from other Mexicans. 

The explanation for baseball's unique position in the Yucatán is actually relatively simple: Yucatán is really close to Cuba. Cuba may be the most baseball-mad country on the planet ever since the sport was introduced there in the mid-19th century, and it continues to be a source of baseball talent and an unbridled love of the game that porbably surpasses that of its hemispheric enemy, the US. The stretch of sea that separates the island nation with the Yucatán Peninsula is only 128 miles across, and Mérida is hundreds of miles closer to Havana than it is to Mexico City. "Mérida had more cultural and political exchange with Cuba than with Mexico City," explains Alberto Perez, "we think that's how we got this special love of baseball." 

But no matter how it came to pass, one thing is clear: Yucatecos love baseball. "They say that a Sunday in Oxkutzcab, Yucatán, without baseball is not a Sunday." says Alberto Gómez, a 42-year old former professional baseball player in Yucatán. In his home, he earned up to $100 per game played, not bad for three hours' work in the rural part of one of Mexico's poor states. But most Yucatecos play baseball not for money but for love of the game, and baseball is ingrained in a deeper sense, providing communities with social gatherings and shared experiences. "Many people in Yucatán go every Sunday to the baseball field to be with friends and share the experience, even many who do not play go because they are fans," says Mr. Gómez, "You just see friends being with each other, drinking; its just like an American picnic, for Yucatecos going to see baseball is like a picnic." The experience of getting your entire family, some grilled meat and beer, and heading off to the local ball field to see others is "typical for any Yucateco in Yucatán," says another.

Baseball games and fields are central gathering places for any small town in Yucatán. Sure, there are big teams- The Leones de Yucatán, who play in the highest rung of Mexican professional baseball, have a 13,600 seat stadium. But this is the exception. The experience of going to a Yucateco baseball game is "totally intimate," because many fans will be family members and neighbors that have lived together for generations, says Gaspar Chi, a Yucateco who immigrated to the Bay Area and founded his own baseball team. With an untold number of teams across many different levels and locations scattered across the state, a local baseball team serves as ambassadors of their pueblito and carry the pride of their town. A rural indigenous village with more speakers of Maya than Spanish will most likely not have a tourism board, or a website, or many ways to boost their community elsewhere, but they have a baseball team.

Just like anywhere else, different Yucatecos give different reasons as to why they love baseball. Many cite the elegance of the game, and how the lack of a clock means that anything can happen. "I like how it is, because even if you are down by five runs late you can still come back and go ahead," says Rafael Tep, who everyone calls Carmito, "It is very beautiful to me. For Yucatec emigrants in the United States, baseball is a way to relax and blow off steam after working so hard all week. For me, baseball is my pastime, my stress relief, something to do after a day of 14 or 15 hours of work that you have to do. To go out and play is to relax, to take a break from our jobs," says Alberto Gómez, who says the best part is to " be with friends who sometimes you don't see all week." Freddy Setina, another Yucatec baseball player, echoes this sentiment, he plays ball "just to go out and relax and have fun, to be together with my teammates, my people."

Still, the most common reason for a love of baseball is simply tradition. The Maya language and unique customs have survived for hundreds of years of persecution and discrimination, and respecting and continuing their culture is central to the lives of Many Yucatec Mayas. Above all, that is really why baseball has continued to thrive in Yucatán; it is passed down as tradition from generation to generation. 

Baseball is a global sport, and differences in style of play can be evident from place to place, from the respect and "small ball" of Japanese baseball to the energy, speed, and dynamism of Caribbean-style ball to the home-runs-above-all-else ethos of American baseball. So what is Yucatec-style baseball? Ask anyone and they will say that Yucatec baseball is very rough and physical. Barreling into the second baseman to break up a double play? Knocking a runner off his feet as he collides with the catcher at home plate? It is just another Sunday on one of Yucatán's ball fields. "Yucatec baseball is very aggressive. Both verbally and physically." Says Gaspar Chi, "They need to be disciplined, so they leave that aggressiveness for when they are batting for fielding. They need to be able to attack the ball." This is necessarily, as Carmito Tep says, because of physical limitations. "We are all short," he says of his teammates, smiling, "About seven years ago, we were champions, even though we are small. We played against Nicaraguans, and we beat them."

The energy and force with which they play the game may partially explain why so many Yucatec emigrants in the US continue to play baseball despite working long hours to support their families back home. There are many teams and even whole leagues here whose rosters are mostly made up of Yucatecos.

One league, run by Asociacion MAYAB, serves the San Francisco Bay Area’s 40,000 person Yucatec Maya community and describes itself on its website: "The MAYAB Baseball league is a community project, supported by Asociacion MAYAB but led by members of the community that feel a strong affinity and commitment for the favorite sport of the contemporary Mayas of Yucatán: baseball. Six teams currently make up the league: the Indios (Indians), the Mayas, Jalisco, the Diablos (Devils), Concord, and the Naranjeros (Orange-men). The league plays every Sunday in the parks of San Francisco." In 2007, a MAYAB team beat the Chontales, a Nicaraguan team, 12-11 in extra innings for the title of the Liga de Beisbol de la Amistad. 

Gaspar Chi is the Manager and President of Club Yucatán and the leader of the two Yucatec teams that play in another league: the Bay Area's Latin American Baseball league, which includes teams from as far as Hayward and the South Bay. Between the two teams, there are 22-25 players, and several officials. It is a testament to how seriously they take the sport that several of them are content to hold non-playing roles with the team for so many years. Carmito Tep, for example, has been the team scorer and a coach for 15 years. He keeps track of statistics, and helps Gaspar make decisions. Manuel, Gaspar's father, prepares the spread of food needed for the team, and many others have been with the group for nearly as long.

It is an ensemble cast, some as young as 20, other players as old as 35 (the coaches are generally a bit older). Some were born in the United States or elsewhere, and many were born in small towns in Yucatán, the 21,000-person Oxkutzcab village being a common place of birth. One of them, Freddy Setina, came from an even smaller and more remote town, where all the residents were in the same family. 

The team is called Club Yucatán because, as Gaspar says, "Many of the players are from different towns, so to not just put one (town) name we use all the state so everyone feels included." Whenever they put on their uniforms, they feel strongly that they are representing Yucatán.  

Getting hurt is a particular concern for many Yucatec players in the US, because the stakes are so high. Supporting their families back home and facing high costs of living here, they simply cannot afford to take time off work if they suffer an injury on the diamond. "We cannot play at full throttle because we cannot afford to get injured," says Alberto Gómez, "If you get injured, how are you going to get by? Who is going to support your family in Mexico? A lot of people do not know that we play with a certain limit so we do not get hurt. Why? because if I get hurt and break my leg, who will pay my rent, my children's medical bills?"

Even if they try to limit their play to avoid injury, no one can mistake the team for slouches. They are not a rag-tag group of office friends who joyfully toss a ball around and swing at underhand pitches when they have spare time. They take it seriously, and the level at which the game is played is very high. Pitches in the league can reach 70 miles per hour, and they use all professional grade equipment, including wooden bats.

The league is competitive, and they practice often to stay abreast of the competition, even working long hours. "Even if they are tired from two jobs, they always give it their all." Says Gaspar, with more than a touch of pride. They practice twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, in addition to their Sunday games. "We get up early, at 8 AM, and we go to the field, it is what we do." Said Jose Solano. 

Gaspar often gives players, especially the young ones, rides to practice. He does a lot, and the team would not exist without him. Because of the high risk of injury, Gaspar has organized insurance coverage that pays $35,000 for work-hindering injuries, and also has to procure equipment and sponsors. "Gaspar has done too much for us, especially because he does not even play." Mr. Gómez said, "He does not play, he watches the team, buys uniforms, helps in various ways. He is the one that organizes all of this." Finding money for the team is one of the biggest challenges. They need $300 for their white, red, and green uniforms, and another $500 for other equipment. Over the last decade, friends, who have given up to $1,000 at a time, have sponsored him but finding adequate funds is a perpetual battle.

On top of all of that, he has normal manager's duties; writing the lineups, calling plays, and rallying the team. Even with all he does, he remains modest. "I am happy to do it," he says of his work. "For me it is not a hard job, on the contrary, I like being with them, and that is the most important part: being with friends. Regardless if they are Yucatecos or from other nationalities, I am privileged to be in this position."

As a leader in the local Yucatec baseball world, Gaspar is one of the more important figures in the Bay Area's Yucatec community. He recently attended a meeting called by the San Francisco Police Department and the Mexican Consulate to discuss the growing Yucatec community in the region. 

At a recent meeting of his club, Gaspar ran the show and discussed various points with the 17 team members that came. Spanish and Maya mixed easily through mostly bilingual and trilingual mouths, and different people spoke different languages to each other as they feasted on the spread of Tamales, rice, and other traditional Yucatec food that had been brought for them. Isinro Dominguez, the Club's youngest player, joked in Maya with Freddy Setina and others as Gaspar worked the room in both languages.

The first item on the agenda was to propose merging the two Yucateco teams into one better one. Secondly, he said, he wanted to instill a sense of discipline in preparation for the new season, which starts on April 14. The league is more competitive than usual and they need to be ready to face the other 13 teams. "Many lack discipline, many are new, and it is a competitive league so we need a lot of discipline. I want them to understand that it is very important that we play as a team, and as Yucatecos." He says, "I want them to understand that they should act as professionally as any other team. That is my goal." They also discuss the problems of rowdiness and drunkenness at games, deciding that there will be no drinking until the seventh inning, if the player wants to play.  

Most of the rest of the debate could be identical to a Major League Baseball clubhouse meeting. Gaspar praised his team and repeated several times that, "When any team in the league plays against us, they always been prepared, always. They always bring a new pitcher, or something new. They want to beat us more than anything. They are under more pressure than us. The pressure is not on us." He wanted everyone to play for the team, not themselves, telling them "Even if you are on the bench, support the team," and discussed instituting fines and suspension for fights among teammates. He heaped praise on his players, citing a 14-game win streak in which they beat players that had been professionals in Nicaragua.

Despite representing Yucatán, the team is not closed to others, as long as they are over 18 years old. When asked if the roster was limited to Mayas, Gaspar was unequivocal, " You do not have to be Yucateco." He explained, "They just also have to really respect the State of Yucatán and really respect the country and really respect who we are. We as a people are really proud of how well we treat our friends, and that extends to teammates and guests. We want them to feel like teammates and family, to feel the same as us." Perhaps five players are not of Yucatec origin, including Jose Solano and his brother, who are Nicaraguan. "It is a sport, it doesn't matter where you are from," he says, "I feel good playing with this group and will continue to do so." He feels completely as part of the group. "Even if you are from somewhere else, if you are on this team you are Yucateco." Says Gaspar.

The team is also open to others who might have been left out: if you want to play but cannot afford to pay your share, the others will cover it. If you do not have legal resident status, it doesn't matter. 

Another reason for baseball's popularity with this community is because it gives indigenous people a channel to show their uniqueness from other Mexicans- with whom they are often lumped- and demonstrate their worth. "Sometimes people value us less because we are Yucatecos." Says Alberto Gómez, "because many of us are short and different looking. What we are trying to do when we play baseball is to show them that is doesn't matter where your are from, as long as you have fight in you, if you know how to give 100% like Yucatecos do." But even if most of the time Yucateco's feel independent from Mexico, during the World Baseball Classic, they are Mexico's biggest fans.

Right now, with so many Yucatecos at home and abroad eagerly following the Classic, Gaspar muses about when his people will reach an even higher pinnacle in the baseball world. There have been five Minor League players from Ozkutzcab, but no Yucateco has ever reached the Major Leagues. "I hope that one day some Yucateco gets [to play with the Giants], says Gaspar. With all the young players honing their skills on verdant fields in rural Yucatán, calling pitches in Maya, and getting together to play every Sunday, the first Yucatec big leaguer might just be getting ready to go.