The Institute for Baseball Studies recently received several art pieces related to the Carmelita Chorizeros, one of East L.A.’s former semi-professional baseball teams. One of the art pieces donated is an iconic sign that hung adjacent to the 710 Freeway in Los Angeles.
Alumna Linda Pena Manzo ’70 and her husband Richard Manzo ’70 were in attendance during the dedication ceremony. Linda has an unusual connection to the Chorizeros. Her father was a salesman for Carmelita Chorizo, the team’s company sponsor, and when she was in the fourth grade, he asked her to draw a pig wearing a baseball cap holding a bat. Linda worked all evening adjusting sketches with her father making suggestions so that he could use the image when he met with clients. That image became the prototype for the professionally drawn pig, which became the company’s well-known logo.
During their time at Whittier College, Linda and Richard were appointed by Martin Ortiz as president and vice president, respectively, for the founding of the Mexican-American Club.
“[The donation] strengthens holdings in international baseball and especially Latino baseball in the U.S.,” said Joe Price, the Genevieve Shaul Connik Professor of Religious Studies and co-director of the Institute for Baseball Studies. “It also helps provide local interest to students that will go to Cuba next year and take the course, El Beisbol, A Carribean Adventure.”
The other art pieces donated include a framed painting of team manager Manuel “Shorty” Perez and a framed replica of the team’s jersey.
You can see all the art pieces at the Institute for Baseball Studies, which is open to the public on Friday’s from 1 to 5 p.m., and on other days by appointment only.
