Overview

Buryl Baty (1924–1954) was a winning athlete, coach, builder of men, and an early pioneer in the fight against bigotry. In 1950, Baty became head football coach at Bowie High School in El Paso and quickly inspired his athletes, all Mexican Americans from the Segundo Barrio, with his winning ways and his personal stand against the era’s extreme, deep-seated bigotry—to which they were subjected. However, just as the team was in a position to win a third district title in 1954, they were jolted by an unthinkable tragedy that turned their world upside down. Later, as mature adults, these players realized that Coach Baty had helped mold them into honorable and successful men, and forty-four years after the coach’s death, they dedicated their high school stadium in his name. In 2013, Baty was inducted posthumously into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame. In this poignant memoir, R. Gaines Baty also describes his own journey to get to know his father. Coach Baty’s life story is portrayed from the perspectives of nearly one hundred individuals who knew him, in addition to many documented facts and news reports.

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9781623492663

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Reviews

Perhaps one of Buryl Baty's most important legacies is the hard lessons he taught a generation of Mexican Americans who overcame so many strikes against them. El Paso owes Gaines Baty a ton of gratitude for reconnecting us with a man whose story continues to inspire. --;/div>--Ramon Renteria El Paso Times (05/22/2015)

I believe in this story and in the power of one person to change the lives of the young people entrusted to his care--in this case a football team who Coach Baty would not allow to be discriminated against. It is powerful and uplifting. --Frances B. Vick, coauthor of Petra's Legacy and Letters to Alice --Frances B. Vick (09/09/2014)

Author Information

R. Gaines Baty, Coach Baty’s son, founded and directs an executive search firm in Dallas, USA serving high-growth and Fortune 500 companies. He was an accomplished athlete in high school and college, receiving All-Southwest Conference and All-Era honors. In 2011, he was inducted into the Garland, Texas, Sports Hall of Fame.

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