Texas Border Businesses
EDINBURG, Texas — The Museum of South Texas History will host its featured exhibit, “1962 Colt League World Series Champions from Hidalgo County,” with a reception on Saturday, August 24th, starting at 10 a.m.
Some would argue that sports in the Rio Grande Valley, especially baseball, are part of the culture, but it wasn’t until the mid-20th century, a tumultuous time riddled with racial and economic barriers, that baseball became a vehicle for interaction between Mexican American and Anglo American communities.
Inspired by Leonardo “Leo Naho” Alanis, a Mission, Texas, native who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 1925, Valley kids picked up bats and gloves and dreamed of the major leagues. This resulted in a Little League Baseball boom in South Texas, and in 1962 Hidalgo County helped organize an all-star team of 15- and 16-year-old boys to win for South Texas. That inspired and determined group of boys became the 1962 Colt League World Series champions.
The museum will display three championship trophies, baseball bats, newspaper articles, photographs, baseballs autographed by championship teams and items loaned from players. The exhibit will open on Tuesday, August 20 and end on Sunday, September 1. An opening reception featuring several players will be held on Saturday, August 24 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, with free admission until noon that day.
If you have any questions about the Spotlight exhibit, please contact Exhibit Curator Jenarae Bautista or Archivist Melissa Peña at 956-383-6911.
