Ambidextrous Angel

By the time they got to Williamsport, Pa. last week, the barnstorming little ballplayers from Monterrey, Mexico were just about worn out. They had beaten their way across country for a month, had played and won eleven games from Texas to Kentucky. Now they faced the Little League World Series, and they were scheduled to start against some sturdy youngsters from Bridgeport, Conn, at 2:30 p.m. Coach Cesar Faz studied his skinny, undersized squad (averaging 4 ft. 11 in., 92 lbs.), saw all the signs of fatigue and made a reasonable request. "That's when my boys usually take a siesta," he said. "Can't they play in the second game at 5:30?"

But the program was already printed. The request was refused. All Coach Faz could do was arrange a special schedule of his own: he woke his kids (all twelve or under) at 7:30, had them ready for a nap by 11 o'clock and up again in time for the game. Properly refreshed, they beat Bridgeport in the semifinal, 2-1.

In the final game against La Mesa, Calif, (a team that averaged 5 ft. 4 in., 127 lbs.), Coach Faz tried something far more spectacular than extra sleep. He called on his best pitcher, ambidextrous Angel Macias, a twelve-year-old 88-pounder with a fine assortment of curves and sliders, plus a plain, old-fashioned fast ball under disciplined control. Against Bridgeport, Angel had played a flawless game at shortstop. He can, in fact, play any position on the team--becomes a southpaw on first base, a righthander in the rest of the infield, whatever he happens to feel like when he switches to the outfield. At bat, says he, he is a "turnover" hitter like his hero Mickey Mantle.

Pitcher Angel studied the La Mesa lineup, saw mostly right-handed hitters and decided to pitch righthanded. The big crowd (10,000) which had seen him play excellent ball in the field saw him in a perfect performance on the pitcher's mound. He allowed no hits, struck out eleven, walked not a single boy. And his team breezed to the title, 4-0.

Back in Monterrey loudspeakers in the public squares reported a running account of the game. For the rest of the year, Angel and his teammates will go back to shining shoes on the streets after school, working in the local foundry for 50-c- a day. Until two years ago, they played baseball barefoot. But now they are the town's pride. Fire engines screamed through the streets to celebrate the victory, and all over Monterrey men burst into song. The kids began their celebration with a sightseeing trip to New York. Mexico's President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines got into the act and suggested a reception at the National Palace in Mexico City before the kids finish the long ride home.

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