Mining Diamonds Along the Border: Recent Episodes
Mary Darling
Four of the eight banned Chicago White Sox baseball players, commonly known as "Black Sox", were harbored by a small border area bush league during the 1920s. This three episode mini series podcast is about the area and league that welcomed them.
Episode one: Development of the U.S. Mexico border brought colonization, with colonization came soldiers, with soldiers came baseball with baseball came community.
Episode two: As mining dominated border economics, the healing qualities of the high desert also had an impact. Harboring baseball players banned from the major leagues for their involvement in gambling scandals was a perfect fit for the border area business model where vice was always just steps away.
Episode three: As more outlawed players joined the league, egos and temperaments impacted its sustainability. A dominant player’s career ending injury initiated a set of circumstances which lead to the league’s demise.