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Prospects Prepare For New Culture

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 16, 2007

Photo Gallery: Rays' Venezuelan Complex

GUACARA, Venezuela - It has been nearly 14 years, but Wuarner Rincones vividly remembers the "terrible" time he had in his first season as a minor-league player in the United States.

Dropped first into Sarasota and then sent to Hickory, N.C., as a White Sox farmhand newly arrived from Venezuela in 1994, he knew what to do on a baseball field but was mystified everywhere else.

"When you get to the States and you don't know the language, everything you hear somebody ask you, you say, 'Yes.' You don't have an idea what they are asking you," said Rincones, the hitting and infield coach for the Rays' Venezuelan affiliate. "When somebody gets close to you to ask you something, you try to go away because you don't know how to give them an answer."

Rincones' experience was hardly unique. For decades, players from Latin American countries with limited to no grasp of the English language have struggled with basic aspects of daily life after coming to the States. Communication problems and cultural differences can make for such a miserable experience that players begin to question the one aspect of their lives they know best - baseball.

"It's a very big challenge for someone to go to another country, another culture, another language, and do something you've been comfortable in," said Milton Jamail, an author and former University of Texas professor who has studied Latin American baseball extensively and is now working full-time for the Rays.

With the magnitude of that transition in mind, the Rays have enlisted Jamail and others to prepare their prospects in Latin America for the life that awaits them in the States. English classes are mandatory for all players at the Rays' academies in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, and the organization is taking other steps to help integrate its players throughout the minor-league system.

Learning English is the first step in those efforts. In Venezuela, the Rays have enlisted the services of Luis Carmona, the longtime English teacher at the Houston Astros' nearby academy. Carmona counts Cy Young winner Johan Santana as perhaps the best student he has had.

Rays pitcher Omar Bencomo, 18, is one of Carmona's more enthusiastic students. His father, also named Omar, reached Triple-A in seven minor-league seasons as a pitcher, but he didn't even know how to say 'yes' when he first arrived in the States.

"I really like it," the younger Bencomo said. "Sometimes I struggle, but I really enjoy it."

Beyond the language instruction, Jamail is focused on helping players make the cultural adjustment. In down time during his visits to the academy, Jamail will pull out a map of the U.S. to familiarize players with the lay of the land. They'll discuss cultural differences, talking about what players should and shouldn't do once they get to the States.

The program also works the other way. This fall, Jamail initiated an exchange program of sorts designed to give U.S.-born players an idea of where their Latin American counterparts came from.

Mike McCormick, a catcher for Hudson Valley last season, spent two weeks living at the Venezuelan academy in October and November and playing with the team there. In November, Jamail took three other Rays minor-leaguers to the Dominican for a week to check out Tampa Bay's operations and get a feel for the country.

"We have to have a better understanding between the two groups," Rays special assistant Andres Reiner said. "This is the moment to do it, because this year and next year there will be a few players going from Venezuela to the U.S., but after that there will be a bunch of them. So we have to prepare the organization, and it's not just sending players. We, as an organization, should be prepared to receive them."

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