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75 DAYS UNTIL THE 75TH YEAR!

Newton’s first Annual Mexican American Men’s Fast Pitch Tournament was published in a small news announcement in the Evening Kansan-Republican on July 3rd, 1946. The article stated that a daylight softball tournament sponsored by the Mexican Catholics was scheduled for Thursday, July 4th at Athletic Park. Two Newton local clubs, (the Mexican Catholics and Wiley-McCalls), as well as teams from Topeka, Emporia, Wichita, and Hutchinson, were expected to compete in the single elimination event.

Reported in the subsequent July 5th news article stated, “Mexicans Win Own Tournament” in the championship game against Topeka, 15- 5. Though the first tournament held would seem small in its inception, in the following 75 years it would grow, develop and eventually grant Newton the title, “Home of the Oldest Men’s Fast Pitch Tournament in the Country”.

The tournament’s success continued the following year in 1947 with three ladies’ teams playing between the men’s games as an added entertainment attraction. The Lyons ladies’ team was to play Wichita and the winner was to oppose the Newton ladies’ team, Newton City Cab. The tournament continued annual play from there on, though there were two different years when they were canceled because of severe flooding and extreme weather conditions. The early tournaments were held on the ball fields to the west and east of the Athletic Park stadium, being located practically across the street from the Ranchito, until 1963, when property behind Our Lady of Guadalupe church was developed into a ballpark. The tournament was guided under the Holy Name church organization and continued to grow annually through the years. It would become a major fundraising event for the church, with proceeds from the game attendance, dance, and food sales going toward the church’s building fund. In 1999, the tournament left the sponsorship of the church and reorganized as the Newton Mexican American Athletic Club and moved back to Athletic Park, where it has been since.

The success of the past 74 tournaments and the upcoming 75th cannot only be attributed to great baseball, but continues unofficially as a homecoming, the family reunion of the descendants of the Santa Fe laborers, the Ranchito, Los Cuauhtémoc’s, Los Rayos, and the Mexican Catholics. Though many of the descendants and former ballplayers are scattered across the state and the nation, they still travel back to Newton to attend the tournament. It is a homecoming to many, a journey home that reconnects them to family, friends, and fellow ballplayers, and allows them to reminisce, laugh, drink, dance, play ball, and be part of a grand tradition born on the 4th of July!

75 DAYS UNTIL THE 75TH YEAR “Home of the Oldest Men’s Fast Pitch Tournament in the Country”.

More stories and history will be posted here in the coming 75 days until the first pitch! 

-Ray Olais 

70 DAYS UNTIL THE 75TH YEAR!

The great American past time of baseball was first organized in 1846 and was later introduced to Mexico in the 1880’s. Coincidentally, at the beginning of the 1900’s, Mexican laborers were recruited to come work in points all across the central US. Therefore, when the Santa Fe recruited Mexicans laborers to come and work in Newton, Kansas, they were already familiar with the great American pastime. 

Canuto Jaso and his family came to Chanute, KS in 1919 from El Paso, for the illness and burial of his youngest son, Manuel who had been working with the Santa Fe railroad since 1916, and had died of influenza. Canuto, while in Chanute, stopped in Newton to visit his sister, Hipolita Jaso Sauceda, and was persuaded by the Sauceda family to stay and seek work with the railroad. The Saucedas had been in Newton since 1908 and knew the railroad was hiring. (The Saucedas had been the third Mexican family to settle in Newton). Canuto, along with his sons Magdaleno and Raymundodecided to stay and found employment with the Santa Fe railroad. 

While living in El Paso before coming to Newton, Magdaleno and Raymundo had been playing baseball. After arriving in Newton, they carried on their love of the sport and in 1919 they formed teams amongst their friends and played against each other. Around 1927, they picked a team made up of better players and competed against teams from Wichita. Magdaleno played first base and Raymundo played 2nd base. In the early thirties, the older players allowed younger players to take their places. Raymundo remained with the new team, christened the Cuauhtemocs, whose story will be told in the next Facebook post.

(This history of the Jaso family baseball roots was excerpted from the JASO, CANUTO FAMILY biography written by Raymunda Jaso Flores, published in the Harvey County History book in 1990.)