At SoxFest Yoan Moncada answered a
question about team chemistry. I
understand enough Spanish to know Moncada answered that the Latino players and
American players get along. But the
translator said Latin players and “white players.” I wonder how Tim Anderson would feel about that.
I’m not accusing the translator—a
popular guy who’s been with the team for several years now—of anything. But the difference between what’s said and
how it gets translated speaks to the challenges faced by a sport gone
global. Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and
Latin players all have to interact with English-dominant coaching staffs, to
say nothing of teammates, which is why the role of the translator is so
important. The Sox translator is a big
baseball fan, so the odds are he has the sports’ vocabulary necessary to convey
what both coaches and players are trying to say to one another.
But the Asian players? I wonder how many of them have translators
who understand the nuances of the game, to say “your front shoulder is opening
up too soon” or “you’re standing too straight on your follow-through”? I’ll bet careers have been shortened because
of an inability to reach players who speak a different language.
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