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LULAC tourney has everyone crying 'foul' occasionally
By Bill Whitaker
Hispanics from far and near stormed Abilene last weekend for
a huge League of United Latin American Citizens event, but the
only foul cried involved misguided softballs.
That's right. The annual Labor Day softball tournament sponsored
by the local LULAC chapter was a big hit, both with players and
fans, the latter composed largely of adoring family members and
friends, coming all the way from Fort Worth to El Paso to Altus,
Okla.
Although sometimes overlooked in the riot of activities going
on Labor Day weekend, the LULAC No. 605 Softball Tournament has
been mounted that very weekend for 22 years. Held as a way for
the local chapter to raise money for scholarships, the tourney
has grown ever-larger.
"Everybody on our team has played up here once, twice
or more," said 40-year-old Manny Rios, manager of the Scurry
County Coliseum when he's not playing ball. "This thing is
really a goal for most of us. I mean, it's kind of like the Super
Bowl.
"You get to come out here once a year and see all your
friends."
TOUGHER THAN ANY MAN
Saturday and Sunday 64 men's teams and 14 women's teams played
in the lively tourney at Nelson Park. City Council member Carol
Martinez and civic leader Billy Enriquez were on hand selling
LULAC T-shirts, while local LULAC official Anna Vedro and attorney
Gilbert Rodriguez tended to the nutritional business of concessions.
"The thing I find great about it is it's a family event,"
Billy told me. "It's not a good ol' boy event, it's always
been a family event. And if you want your stereotypes blown away,
we have absolutely no problems out here. It's always been something
you could bring your kids to."
What's more, the competition is fierce.
"The only important thing out here is whether you can
play ball," said Henry Loza, 36, who works at the West Texas
Rehabilitation Center. "We have some of the same ball players
out here every year. It's pretty competitive. I don't think we've
had a repeat winner in over 10 years."
Manny, whom I talked with Sunday morning, agreed.
"Sure, I get this nervous feeling when I see another team
coming up and, well, they're all athletic-looking and here we
got a bunch of fat guys," said Manny (who happens to be tall
and thin). "But sometimes these fat guys can really hit the
ball."
In the early days, the tournament was all-Hispanic, but rules
have changed to let more non-Hispanics play. Each team of 15 is
allowed up to three non-Hispanics. Coaches, in their bid to win,
are happy to take advantage of racial inclusion, especially if
it means victory.
Jesse De La Cerda, 49, coach of the women's team "Latin
Breed" from Ballinger, has gladly tapped non-Hispanics to
play. He recalls with great humor a black woman who had been a
shot-put champion in high school, could hit a ball harder than
any man, "and talked in such a way she was always getting
into fights."
Obviously Jesse tries to keep things light, however the game
turns out. Two women in Latin Breed -- named for a popular San
Antonio Tejano band -- have been on the team almost 20 years.
Several others have reportedly been on the team close to a decade.
"They just like to play ball," wife Rosa said.
BY DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT
This weekend teams played with little regard for time constraints.
"Everybody's ready to play when this thing begins,"
Henry Loza told me Saturday afternoon. "We played at 6 in
the morning and we're supposed to play again at 5 in the evening.
Right now, it looks like we'll be playing till at least 1 o'clock
in the morning."
By Sunday, the play everyone was still talking about was the
hit made by 20-year-old Gabriel Castillon of Snyder's Que Onda
team. He knocked the ball out of the park -- and right onto someone's
pickup truck. Players hoped fervently the owner had insurance,
then returned to the game.
"We had a good time," Jesse told me before he and
his lively women's team headed back for Ballinger. "Now,
the umpire probably wonders if I had a good time. He's probably
pretty upset with me right about now. But I didn't mean anything."
For the record, The Cubs out of Midland won the men's division,
with the Cobras of Big Spring and Lawrence Hall Chevrolet taking
second and third places. In the women's, Tejano station KICK-FM
of Fort Worth (but made up of Abilene players) won, with Aces
High of San Angelo and Texas JAM of Wichita Falls coming in second
and third.
Incidentally, I noticed epithets hurled at the mostly Anglo
umpires were in clear and concise English.
"That's so they'll understand what's being said,"
Billy Enriquez joked.
Bill Whitaker, who is happy to endorse LULAC's skill in making
fajitas, can be reached at 676-6732.
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Copyright ©1996 or
1997, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications
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