Major League Baseball is trying to bridge the language gap, adopting a new rule that permits language interpreters to join mound conferences when pitchers aren't fluent in English.

"The manager or coach would tell me something and I didn't understand them," Mariano Rivera, the New York Yankees' closer said through an interpreter. "You nod your head yes, but you have no idea what they are saying."

According to established practice only full-time professional language interpreters may accompany managers and pitching coaches onto the field. Presently this service is provided mainly for Asian players, while Spanish-speaking players tend to rely more on bilingual teammates or coaches for language assistance. Apparently the reason for this is that Asian players transfer directly from their overseas teams to the majors without the time to learn English in the minors. Linguists consider the transition to be more difficult than it is for Latino players.

"It's kind of the same and it's kind of different," Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters said. "For the most part, a lot of the Latin guys that are in the big leagues have been through the minor leagues, have had years of experience in the minor leagues to develop a relationship. Some of the Asian pitchers come over here and it's their first year over here, and they haven't had that sort of adjustment time. It's up for debate."

Baltimore pitcher Wei-Yin Chen said through Orioles interpreter Tim Lin that, above all, the rule should be fair.

"If I can bring my interpreter, Spanish players should bring their interpreter, too," he said.

Rivera agreed. "Yes, that should be allowed," the all-time saves leader said through an interpreter. "Somebody on the team should be allowed to translate for them."

"There's validity in exploring that idea," added Pittsburgh general manager Neal Huntington.

For more on the new rules that go into effect this year allowing team interpreters to visit the mound during games, please check out the major league baseball website.

By Alex Dupont
Marketing Communications Specialist
Language Translation Inc.

See Also

• Language interpreting is the process of translating spoken words from one language into another.
  A new rule in Major League Baseball that lets interpreters join managers and coaches on the mound when pitchers aren't fluent in English might still need some tweaking
• Translators bridge language gap on the mound
  There were times in the low minors when Mariano Rivera felt totally lost on the mound. That was, before he got a good grasp of his cut fastball ? and English.