Sport: ‘A Useful Category of Historical Analysis’:1 Isabel ‘Lefty’ Alvarez: The Rascal of El Cerro

Abstract

Isabel ‘Lefty’ Alvarez was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1933. The youngest child and the only girl, Lefty was both pageant-level beautiful and all-star-status athletic. She struggled at school but thrived when playing baseball in the streets, where she was fiercely competitive. Lefty’s mother was very protective, but encouraged her daughter to leave Cuba at age 15 to play baseball in the United States. Lefty played five seasons in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), primarily as a pitcher. Lefty's story fits into many familiar narratives. Hers could be the story of a Cuban-American who proves herself through success on the playing field; or the story of a feminist hero, a woman who triumphs in a male-dominated world. She could be an impoverished immigrant who makes good through hard work and determination. None of these stories, however, limited as they are to the traditional lenses of gender, race and class, provides us with an image of Lefty that she would recognise. In order to more fully recognise Lefty, sport must be included in the discussion. By employing a new category of analysis I call sport identity, a more complete picture of Lefty emerges. Sport identity is not a category that has historically been used in social movements or that women have applied to themselves. It is an identity category that can be a category of analysis offering a new approach to thinking about the many intersections and layers that make up identity.