All memorabilia on Bernardo Peña prior to 1940 has been removed from Mission baseball exhibit

MISSION, Texas - Anyone attending the much-lauded “Leagues Of Our Own” exhibit that has just opened at the Mission Historical Museum Annex will no longer find any memorabilia on Mission baseball legend Bernardo Peña prior to 1940.That is because the owner of the collection, Bernardo Peña’s daughter Ester Salinas, has asked the City of Mission to remove the items.“I was not asked to be part of this exhibit and I did not give permission for anything in the private collection to be used,” Salinas said. “I consider it theft.”The “Leagues Of Our Own” baseball exhibition opened last Friday and runs until September. Salinas said she was notified by a friend that her father was being featured in the exhibit. She said she immediately contacted Mission’s assistant city manager, David Flores, and got one historic item removed. She said she then sent a text to Mission Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza to ask that three other items be removed.“My father played an important role in the development of baseball in the Rio Grande Valley. I can assure you that all the photos and artifacts about his playing, coaching and promoting before 1940 belong to our private collection,” Salinas said.“It is very sad that the Museum committee chose to exhibit items from the private collection without contacting me.”Born in Rio Grande City in 1901, Peña often played at nearby Fort Ringgold. It was there that he learned English and how to play baseball from the stationed soldiers. By the age of six, Peña became the water and batboy for their games, and his enthusiasm for the sport only grew. In 1921, he traveled to San Antonio to try out for their teams and impressed recruiters with his pitching skills and his proficiency in English. Though he was able to play on some semi-pro teams, he faced much discrimination, his daughter said.Peña eventually decided to form a team in Laredo with Black and Latino players he met and befriended. They traveled to Mexico and played against their teams, sparking the interest of Mexican President Alvaro Obregon, who tasked Peña with recruiting more players. Peña scouted players from Cuba, Puerto Rico and other Latin countries as well as those in the Negro Leagues. He gained fame as he continued to promote, recruit and play for teams in Mexico and South Texas. For his contributions to baseball, Peña was posthumously inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.Asked how the Mission Historical Museum committee might have gotten hold of items from the private collection, Salinas said she once allowed a small portion of the collection to be shown at an event at UT-Pan American over 15 years ago.“I agreed to allow some of the collection to be shown there provided no one took photos. Obviously, someone did,” Salinas said.Here is an audio interview with Salinas.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.