The assumption that foreign-born players use translators because they don’t understand English is a tired one.
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez grew up in the Dominican Republic, he was not signed by a North American baseball team until he was 17 years old. He left his family and everything that was comfortable when he moved to a foreign country as a teenager. Expectedly, Spanish is the language he’s most comfortable speaking. And despite what Phil Mushnick of The New York Post writes, that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of understanding or speaking English.
In his Saturday column, Mushnick wrote the following:
Despite defensive lapses, give Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres credit.
Last week the Venezuelan with just four years in the bigs stood for a pregame interview on YES, and through faulty English, nevertheless understood and answered Meredith Marakovits’ questions to the best of his English-speaking ability. It’s clear he’s working on his English.
Gary Sanchez, after seven seasons with the Yankees and before that with the club’s farm teams, still can’t be bothered. He still relies on an interpreter, still as deficient in English as he is in fundamental baseball skills and awareness.
An unwarranted shot at Sanchez. Let’s say Sanchez did conduct public interviews with a second language that he didn’t begin learning until he was an adult, would Mushnick be kind to any potential misspeak? Or would the often-controversial writer use it as an opportunity to disparage Sanchez? Sanchez is frequently criticized by fans and the media, why should he trust that it wouldn’t be worse if miscommunications were an added variable?
This wasn’t the first time Sanchez’s decision to use an interpreter has been viewed as an inability to speak or understand English. During the 2019 MLB All-Star game FOX broadcaster Joe Buck made a similar assumption.
With Freddie Freeman mic’d up and approaching the plate, the Braves first baseman told Sanchez, “I know what you’re going to throw at me,” joking that because he’s connected to the broadcast booth, he’ll be able to steal signs. After Sanchez laughed, Buck said “I don’t think he understood what you were saying,” an assumption that the Yankee catcher can’t understand English.
Masahiro Tanaka spent seven seasons with the Yankees and spoke through a translator during his entire career in New York, but that doesn’t mean he’s unable to speak English. In fact, Tanaka was often described as being one of the more popular teammates in the Yankees clubhouse.
After his contract with the Yankees ran out last year, Tanaka returned to Japan, signing with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. A Japanese magazine recently suggested racism during the COVID-19 pandemic was one reason Tanaka and his family decided to leave the United States. Although it was later reported Tanaka was not quoted in the story.
Sanchez will be a free agent after next season. Despite being a baseball rarity as a power-hitting catcher, the 28-year-old and two-time All-Star has been hardly appreciated in New York, often criticized for his inconsistencies more than he’s respected for his abilities. Mushnick’s column is a clear example of that disrespect, and maybe the best way for Sanchez to earn some credit will be starting fresh with a new team.