In 1957, baseball was a growing pasttime for children in the Monterrey, Mexico area. Most were children of industrial workers, making just enough wages to feed their families while teedering on the poverty line. This group of pequeños jugadores decided they wanted to play in a real game against a real opponent. They had been playing with crude baseball equipment, mostly homemade for some time and were big fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Dodgers games had been broadcast in Spanish on their radios every Sunday afternoon. The community got behind their effort and they found themselves, rather miraculously, with real handsewn uniforms, equipment, visas and a tournament in Texas to play in.
With little money to go on, they had to walk over ten miles from the Mexican border to the tournament site in McAllen, TX. After arriving, they were only guaranteed one game. Their visas were only issued for three days, and they expected to be home in short time. Amazingly, they upset the first team they played and quickly realized they would need to stay longer than three days. The only clothing they had brought for the trip was one change of underwear and their uniforms. After pulling some strings with the Mexican consolate and the US embassy, they were awarded longer-stay visas to continue playing.
The Monterrey Industrial Little League Club (As they were calling themselves), quickly took Texas by storm. They not only beat all odds by winning that first game, they pulled off the ultimate upset by winning the tournament. They next had to play in Louisville KY. After playing a few games here, they won and would represent the South Region in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.
It was a dream, an absolutely unfathomable accomplishment that an undersized, underpriveledged team who had not grown up playing in real baseball leagues had beaten some of the country's best to reach the top tournament. They had already overcome a lot, including racism which they had never encountered in their lives in Mexico. Their team was fueled by respect for the game, hard work, and the blessing of God. They would not take to the diamond until they had been read the 108 Psalms by a man of the clergy.
Once arriving in Williamsport, they had to play Bridgeport, CT. Bridgeport gave them a great game, but Monterrey disposed of them 2-1 behind the masterful Enrique Suarez to reach the championship game. They had to then play arguably the best team in the entire country, the winners of the West Regional, La Mesa, CA. The team towered over Monterrey's players, outweighing them by an average of 35 lbs and standing over them by more than eight inches. It was truly David vs. Goliath. The team would turn to their best pitcher, ambidextrous flame thrower Angel Macias.
There were 16,000 fans at the final game. Everyone expected a rout by La Mesa. After a few innings, La Mesa had not yet reached first base. Later in the game, with Angel Macias on cruise control, the Monterrey team found themselves facing a bases loaded situation with a chance to take the lead. Monterrey would get the run(s) they needed to take the lead, courtesy of an improbable grand slam home run. Leading 4-0, Monterrey found themselves just three outs from victory.
Macias got the first two outs and stared down one player with victory on his mind. He threw a flurry of pitches, the final one reaching the catcher's glove as strike three. Angel Macias, a small-by-stature/big-by-heart, kid from a Mexican factory town who had never played baseball against real competition until that year, had just pitched a perfect game. His perfect game still stands as the only one thrown in a LLWS Final.
This garnered national attention. Lots of news outlets picked up the story. They had become known as Los Pequeños Gigantes, The Little Giants. One of their first visits around the country on a quick victory tour was to go to Brooklyn and see their idol Dodgers. They had all pretended to take on the persona of the player from the Dodgers who played their particular decision. Macias had wanted to emulate Sandy Koufax, and he did a great job. After mingling with the Dodgers, the team was invited to the White House to meet Dwight D. Eisenhower. After sharing a moment with Ike, they left and began their journey home.
Once they returned home, they were given a victory parade which saw over 500,000 citizens taking pride in the club who had given their city such a big name on the US stage. Their victory had really changed baseball forever. Their legacy would reshape the LLWS tournament. After 1957, the LLWS adopted a new format which awarded Canada and Latin America their own regionals, and permanent representation in Williamsport each year.
In 1958, the team from Monterrey (with new players) won the Latin America Region, and represented them in the LLWS in Williamsport once again. Amazingly, they won the tournament again. No longer viewed as out-of-their-league underdogs, they squashed all foes had the misfortune of stepping onto the same diamond as them. The scores went in their favor 11-0, 11-5, 10-1 in three tournament games.
The 1957 team had won six tournaments to claim the championship, and not lost a single game. Angel Macias of the 1957 team went on to have a minor league career, but was never called up to any major league clubs. Enrique Suarez did not pursue baseball later in his life. A player from the 1958 Monterrey team, Héctor Torres, played in the Major Leagues for nine seasons.
Jose Maiz Garcia, who played left field during the 1957 run, has really become an important figure in Monterrey baseball. He currently owns the Monterrey Sultans, and used his real estate and construction career to build a large ballpark for the club to play their home games in, known as Estadio De Beisbol. He has given a lot of money to the little league program in Monterrey and Mexico more broadly, and was inducted into the Little League Hall Of Fame in Williamsport, PA, in 2005.
The 1957 team built a legacy on which the foundation still stands in Monterrey. The #1 sport in Monterrey is baseball. Monterrey is the home to the Mexican Baseball Hall Of Fame (Salon de la Fama del Beisbol). Monterrey's Little League club has represented the Latin America Region in Williamsport eleven times. Baseball is king in Monterrey, in a country where soccer is dominant, and that would probably not have been possible without what those kids from the streets of Monterrey built from scratch against all odds back in 1957.
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