Buffalo‘s Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente League was founded in the 1970s to create a Hispanic baseball league and included the Leones (Lions), the Boricuas (Puerto Ricans), and the Caribes (Piranhas).
The league grew throughout the 1980s, eventually including many other teams and creating a women’s softball team.
The polyester-and-cotton baseball jacket shown here is currently on display at the The Buffalo History Museum exhibit “GLAMerica 250-History Never Goes Out of Style,” which runs through December.
The jacket is royal blue with red stitching. The front features the name Ricky and, on the left side, P.R.A.C.A./’84. The back of the jacket, in large print, says Clemente and below that Lge. Champs.
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in the U.S. from September 15 through October 15. You can see more of their collection of Hispanic heritage artifacts through their online database, along with the Hispanic Heritage History Project: Historia del Proyecto through the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library.
The Museum also endorses and collaborates with The Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York, who are dedicated to preserving Hispanic history in Western New York for future generations.
Photo provided.
Thanks, Editorial Staff. Never got see see the Buffalo / Erie area close-up, BUT clear across NY State, there is the Roberto Clemente State Park, in The Bronck’s, just of I-87 (aka Major Deegan Expwy) just N of Yankee Stadium. … See Bob Carlin’s book advertised on this page.