Tampa’s Rich Baseball History: “It All Starts With Coaching”

“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball … and do it by watching first some high school or small-town teams.” – Jacques Barzun Nothing suggests that Mr. Barzun, a Paris-born, American-raised historian and philosopher, ever changed his mind about that often referred to quote (it’s on a plaque […]

Remembering Al Lopez, Tampa’s Latin Jackie Robinson

Recently the family home of Al Lopez was uprooted and moved a short distance. In about a year it will open as the Tampa Baseball Hall of Fame. It is obviously appropriate the baseball history of Tampa would be housed in the Lopez home, and in Ybor City, a neighborhood just east of downtown Tampa, […]

It All Started With Al Lopez

Recently the modest Ybor City ancestral home of Alfonso Ramon Lopez – Al Lopez as he was known as player and manager – was up-rooted and moved about a mile, where it will become the Tampa Baseball Hall of Fame. It is richly appropriate that the baseball history of Tampa be housed in the Lopez […]