Jorge Pasquel

Jorge Pasquel (April 23, 1907 - March 1955) was a Mexican businessman and sports executive. He was president of the Mexican League and owned interests in several teams at a time when the league recruited from Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB), creating a brief threat to the MLB talent level. Pasquel died in a plane crash. He was inducted into the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

Biography

Early life

Pasquel was born in Veracruz, Mexico. When he was a child, U.S. military forces had invaded Veracruz.[1] He and four of his brothers ran a cigar factory and then created additional wealth working in various business ventures.[2] By the mid-1940s, the estimated wealth of the family was in the tens of millions of dollars.

Baseball career

Pasquel and his brothers owned the Azules de Veracruz of the Mexican League and were minority owners in several other clubs. Pasquel was named Mexican League president in 1946. As early as 1943, Pasquel had begun bringing players over from Negro league baseball. After recruiting successfully from the Negro leagues, Pasquel began to offer high salaries to bring major league talent over to the Mexican League. He may have been driven by nationalism and by a dislike for American imperialism, possibly spurred by the U.S. invasion of his hometown when he was a child. After signing a number of major league players with impressive salaries, Pasquel found that he could not attract high enough attendance in Mexico to offset the salaries.[1]

In 1946, American player Mickey Owen returned to the United States after playing briefly in the Mexican League. He cited poor playing conditions.[3] A long legal battle ensued, after which Owen was determined to owe Pasquel $35,000 for breach of contract.[4] The league took large financial losses in 1947. Baseball commissioner Happy Chandler had threatened a lifeteam major league ban for players who went to the Mexican League, but the players were allowed to return to the major leagues.[1]

Pasquel and his brother Bernardo left the Mexican League in 1952. The brothers had owned the teams in Veracruz and Mexico City as well as the league's large stadium, Parque Delta. The players from those two teams were divided among the other six clubs in the league. The Mexican government purchased Parque Delta from Pasquel so that the league could continue using it. Pasquel made headlines the next year when he gained distribution rights for the nation's oil from his cousin, Mexican president Miguel Alemán Valdés.[5]

Death and legacy

Pasquel was killed in a 1955 plane crash.[5] Shortly after Pasquel's death, the Mexican League became a part of American professional baseball. Pasquel was inducted into the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bjarkman, Peter (2005). Diamonds Around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 277–279. ISBN 0313322686. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  2. ↑ Nicholl, Conor (November 14, 2007). "Pasquel was a force for integration". Major League Baseball. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Owen owes me $26,000, says Pasquel". Chicago Tribune. August 8, 1946. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ McKelvey, G. Richard (2006). Mexican Raiders in the Major Leagues: The Pasquel Brothers vs. Organized Baseball, 1946. McFarland. p. 175. ISBN 0786425636. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Hernández, Lou (2011). The Rise of the Latin American Baseball Leagues, 1947-1961: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. McFarland. pp. 15–18. ISBN 0786489367. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  6. ↑ Vaughn, Gerald (1992). "Jorge Pasquel and the evolution of the Mexican League" (PDF). The National Pastime. 12: 9–13. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
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