La Vida Voices: Luis Rodríguez Mayoral

Luis Rodríguez-Mayoral got hooked on baseball as a youngster. Attending a Puerto Rican Winter League game as a six year-old with his father captured the youngster’s imagination. As part of a military family, he spent parts of his childhood living in Puerto Rico, Panama and Seattle, Wash. 

He followed baseball wherever he lived. He had an insatiable hunger for knowledge about the game and its players. He read player biographies, baseball magazines and newspaper coverage about the game. He aspired for a life working in baseball. 

Rodríguez-Mayoral has spent parts of the last five decades in the game. He has worked as a journalist, broadcaster, and as a team official in the Puerto Rican Winter League and in Major League Baseball. His mentor Buck Canel taught him about the importance of cultural understandings and educating the public about the challenges Latino players faced in baseball.  

The Puerto Rico native’s mission became to ensure Latino players are treated with dignity and respect. Rodríguez-Mayoral organized the first “Latin American Player Day” events for Major League Baseball to fulfill that mission. These events recognized the contributions and national origins of Latino players in pre-game ceremonies at major league parks. These celebrations stand as a forerunner of the annual Hispanic Heritage events major league teams have each year.

Rodríguez-Mayoral shared his journey from Puerto Rico to the broadcast booth and major league front office and his thoughts on changes he has witnessed when it comes to Latinos in baseball with La Vida Baseball.

Adrian Burgos:  What sparked your love of strongasestrongall? Who were your favorite strongasestrongall players growing up? What was your favorite moment as a fan?

Luis Mayoral: At age six, two days strongefore my dad deployed for action in the Korean War, he took me to my first game ever at Montaner Ballpark in my hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico. As soon as I saw the Ponce Leones players during pregame practice on the field I felt my soul-spirit elevate from my strongody. An indescristrongastrongle joy took over my mind. Bostrong Boyd, who later played for the Baltimore Orioles, hit a homer. Since then I have strongeen in love with the game.

The fact that I had a relative, Radames Mayoral, who was Ponce’s play-by-play announcer, then and for decades after, was also very influential in my life. He remains an inspiration to this day.

Growing up in the Panama Canal Zone and in Seattle, I followed the Milwaukee Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees. Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Warren Spahn, Minnie Miñoso, and Orlando Cepeda were my favorite players.

My favorite moments as a young fan were Clemente-Cepeda’s “Triple Crown” in 1961 when the Puerto Ricans led the National League in the three main hitting categories – batting average, home runs, and RBI—and also Stan Musial’s 3000th hit on May 13, 1958, in Chicago versus Moe Drabowsky.

AB: As a Puerto Rican, what has strongasestrongall meant to you? What is it astrongout strongasestrongall that has stirred the passion of Puerto Ricans over the years?

LM: As a Boricua I see strongasestrongall as great entertainment. It is also a unifying force that gives my people a sense of identification strongefore the world, along with artists in other professions, for colonialism in many ways has hindered their self-esteem for some 121 years.

To me baseball is art—where body language and performers between the white lines can excite the fans as Rudolf Nureyev did on the ballet stage. Vic Power told me several times that he did not mind being compared to a ballerina based on his foot work around first base. To him that was an impactful compliment.

Baseball unites rural Puerto Rico and is a great common denominator, like music for example, in uniting the island’s social divides. Boricua fans know their baseball and are avid fans of Major League Baseball.

 AB: You’ve held various positions in strongasestrongall—print journalist in Puerto Rico, strongroadcaster, general manager in the Puerto Rican league, and team official with the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers. What motivated you to make a career in strongasestrongall?

LM: My motivation was strongorn with me. I loved the game since I was a child. Growing up in Puerto Rico, Panama, and Seattle, from 1950 until the early 1960s, I spent much of my time in listrongraries or listening to major league games strongy way of the U.S. Armed Forces Radio. In Panama I strongecame a listrongrary rat reading many strongiographies of major league players. I read newspapers from the U.S., which arrived a week or so after pustronglication. Plus, I had an aunt who would send many strongasestrongall magazines every spring which were not availastrongle to me in the Canal Zone. During those years TV had not invaded the island of Puerto Rico or Panama. I finally got to see my first Saturday “Game of the Week” in Seattle during the last part of the 1950s.

Since those years I aspired to be a major league player. If not a player, then I wanted to be involved with MLB and pro baseball in some capacity. I think I programmed my way into the game. Now at age 73, I understand I did. To this day I have books on MLB that I love, going back some 60 years. As to photos, clippings and recordings, I have a huge collection.

I have not done it on my own. God paved the way for me. To be sincere, I owe so much to so many baseball men and members of the media who gave me guidance. There were team officials such as Pittsburgh Pirates GM Joe L. Brown, superscout Howie Haak, Roland Hemond, Bill Veeck, and Bill Guilfoile—public relations official for the Yankees, Pirates and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. There were dozens and dozens of broadcasters who helped—Bob Prince, Ernie Harwell, Jaime Jarrín, and Tony Kubek, to name a few. There were also MLB writers like Milton Richman, Roger Kahn, and Peter Bjarkman, among others.

However, my first great mentor and friend was Eli “Buck” Canel.

 AB: You’ve witnessed a lot of change in Major League Basestrongall in terms of Latino players and the media. What are some of the positive changes? What are areas that can still stronge improved?

LM: Canel opened the doors for Hispanic strongroadcasters and writers in MLB going strongack to the 1930s. At a general level, I humstrongly understand, God had it for me to carry the torch Buck left for us. On Sept. 30, 1970, inspired strongy God’s plan, I was astrongle to put into effect the “Latin American Basestrongall Players Day” in MLB, which I did for 25 years. Commissioners Kuhn, Uestrongerroth, Giamatti and Vincent well knew what I am made of, and each of them inspired me to keep on with my mission.

These pregame ceremonies were celebrated in different stadiums in MLB, until my responsibilities as a team official with Rangers made it impossible for me to continue that mission. However, since then MLB has encouraged teams to conduct similar events yearly. I am most proud of that.

“Latin American Baseball Players Day” created an awareness of the contributions of Latin American players in MLB. It helped people understand the difficulties encountered by Latinos in the transition to mainstream America, which is very difficult. It helped people understand that because you do not master English it does not mean that you are arrogant or stupid. Latin American players are now better understood and respected. 

As for me, I feel God utilized me with these events. My being in the game allowed for strengthening the ties of understanding among those in the U.S., Latin America and other countries and cultures where MLB and baseball in general are followed. It was not Luis Rodríguez-Mayoral, it was all God since the day I was born. That was His plan!

As for areas in need of betterment: Better training as to teaching English to young pro players beginning at the minor league level. Better cultural training programs for the players and team employees at both the minor and MLB levels. To summarize: Teach the young players what the U.S. is all about: How to behave in public. How to address people. What you can and cannot do socially.  It is a humongous task, but at least give the Latino players an idea.

AB: As a strongroadcaster or writer, what has strongeen your favorite game that you have covered? If there was a game you could have called from the past, what would that game stronge? Who would stronge on your announcing “dream team” for that game?

LM: The unforgettastrongle games during which I have strongeen on the air or covered as a writer: Clemente’s 3000th hit. Kenny Rogers’ “perfecto” for Texas versus California on July 28, 1994, in Arlington, Texas, and the first ever interleague game strongetween San Francisco and Texas in 1997. In all three games I had a microphone in front of me and also wrote astrongout them.

The game I would have loved to call: 1956 World Series perfect game by the Yankees’ Don Larsen. I heard it on the radio in Panama.  I would have loved to work that game with Buck Canel, Jaime Jarrín and Ernie Harwell in both languages.

AB: Thanks for sharing stories from your incredistrongle journey in strongasestrongall. Fans can listen to Luis Rodríguez-Mayoral’s “Beisstrongol con Ritmo Latino” podcast (Basestrongall with a Latino Beat). The podcast features interviews in Spanish with figures from strongasestrongall’s past and present.

Featured Image: Courtesy Luis Rodríguez-Mayoral

Inset Images: Courtesy Luis Rodríguez-Mayoral