Mexican American Integration and Acculturation
The teams in the PHY were named after teams from Major League Baseball, another sign of the resonance of American middle class culture among this community. The teams’ names included the Cardinals, Giants, Cubs, Braves, Dodgers, and Yankees. In addition, the business sponsor of the Cardinals Little League team was Wright Sports, a sporting goods store located in downtown San Antonio. The Minor League sponsor was El Retiro Café, a bar located in downtown San Antonio. Other local businesses sponsored teams too: “Garza Finance” Dodgers, “Dairy Queen” Braves, and “Hippo” (Soft drink) Cubs, for example.
Embracing and incorporating team names to emulate Major League baseball exemplify integration and acculturation into the American mainstream. For those involved with the PHY, it was their second home, a place where they made friends, and found their identity as Mexican Americans. The players experienced what it was to be American through baseball while representing the hopes and dreams of the Mexican American residents of the West Side. The players felt confident and capable of being what their talents and skills could make them on the baseball diamond. The coaches and leaders of the PHY taught the players the value of teamwork, discipline, and the spirit of competition forged from each team playing for the chance to win. Becoming winners in a society that valued “winning” was something the players, coaches, and families could appreciate. The PHY athletic club was an organization that taught youth-level players they could have fun, compete, and win through sports.
An important recollection was captured during my interview with David Moreno, a former player with the PHY who also played on the Cardinals. He continues to be a close friend of my father and currently lives in Palacios, TX as a pastor for the United Methodist Church. David Moreno shared his many experiences and memories as a player with the PHY Little League. In addition, David still has his jersey from when he played on the Cardinals (see Figure 22). David Moreno explained uniforms were collected and reused each season and replaced every ten years. Therefore, he was able to keep his jersey as he wore it on the tenth year.
He also vividly remembers the concession stand serving raspas, Frito pie, and hot dogs. He indicated English was primarily used when they played. The men would sometimes speak to each other in Spanish but always English to the players. According to David Moreno however, Spanish was sometimes used in football, where his coach would “call out plays in Spanish” so the opposing team wasn't aware of what they were doing from the sideline. It is important to point out that PHY baseball, with six teams, played a season competing against each other. Yet, with football, competition was against teams from across the city. This reveals how for football, the Spanish language provided a competitive advantage (Moreno, David. Interview. By Adam Nerio. 29 March 2020.).
Those I interviewed in these oral histories reflected on the leadership of the coaches/managers within the PHY athletic club. One of the interviewees mentioned how his coach had three sons of his own so the opportunity to coach them in Little League was “pure enjoyment.” Not only did Jerry Guevara’s coach participate in Little League but also coached Pop Warner football for the PHY. When referring to the coaches/managers one interviewee said, “They were dedicated, very dedicated…most lived in the Christ The King area.” (Guevara, Jerry. Interview and Sr. Nerio, Reynaldo. Interview.)
The leaders, for the most part, held civil service jobs. The children attended, for the most part, two elementary schools, Ogden and Cenizo Park. In addition, for the most part, families attended Christ The King Catholic Church located at 2610 Perez Street, located less than one mile from the PHY baseball field. Cultural homogeneity was established as this emerging middle-class that reinforced their values, aspirations, and lifestyles. Most lived in the same neighborhood, attended the same church, worked at the same type of jobs, their children attended the same school, and of course, they participated and celebrated together in recreational sports with the PHY athletic club.
Amid the huge effort of running a baseball season, and preparing for a football season, preparing a field, hiring umpires, securing coaches, purchasing items for the concession stand, leaders nonetheless found time to celebrate. Anniversary celebrations were held at the 30th and 40th years. It is interesting to note that the 30th anniversary event recorded in a December 1963 newspaper article, the PHY Athletic Club had six teams of little league and six teams of minor league; six teams for a girls softball league; a women’s softball league of six teams, a slow pitch softball league for men, and a three league soccer program for peewees, juniors and seniors. As such, the athletic club maintained and enhanced its impact on a generation of youth.
The Prospect Hill neighborhood produced leaders. A local magazine article reported: For example, Charles T. Barrett, Jr., president and CEO of Barrett Holdings, an asset management company and authorized dealer for Jaguar, Ferrari, Maserati, Saab and Fisker. Barrett attributes much of his success to his family as well as the environment that Prospect Hill provided. “In Prospect Hill, people knew who they were and where they were from. Everybody knew where their parents were born, where their grandparents were born, where they came from, and why they were here. Pride in your heritage was very important, no matter what it was.” Barrett graduated from St. Mary’s University in 1962. He is a former member of the St. Mary’s University Board of Trustees. One project Barrett is most proud of is the St. Mary’s Bell Tower Project that he initiated in 2006. The bell tower also serves as a memorial to his mother and was dedicated in February 2007… Lionel Sosa, remembers growing up in Prospect Hill with great fondness and according to Sosa, the ethnic diversity of Prospect Hill was a key factor in the success of the neighborhood. In 1972, Sosa founded Sosa, Bromley, Aguilar & Associates (now Bromley Communications), the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the United States. In 2005, Hispanic Business magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States. Sosa attributes much of his success to the strong foundation for life he received growing up in Prospect Hill. He explains, “The neighborhood had the old values: Be honest, work hard, be responsible, be kind.” ……. For Dr. Fernando Guerra, Prospect Hill provided many families with the opportunity to establish a presence, find gainful employment and educate their children. “It had a real sense of community in terms of support provided by families.” He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and his Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard University School of Public Health. Dr. Guerra serves as a consultant to the City of San Antonio in public health and health policy and also practices pediatrics.
Other products of the Prospect Hill neighborhood include:
- Hope Andrade — Commissioner for the Texas Transportation Commission
- Alex Briseno — Retired San Antonio city manager and professor of public service at St. Mary’s University
- Henry Cisneros — Former mayor of San Antonio, founder and chairman of American Sunrise
- Ruben, George and David Cortez — Owners and managers of the family restaurant businesses, including Mi Tierra, Pico de Gallo and La Margarita
- Tessa Martinez Pollack — (former) President of Our Lady of the Lake University
- Ricardo Romo — (former) President of UTSA
- Jesse Treviño — Nationally recognized artist
- Gen. Alfred Valenzuela (Ret.) — Major General, U.S. Army, retired