Santander breaking language barriers

SARASOTA, Fla. - The player stood at his locker and greeted a visitor who wanted a few minutes of his time. The interpreter, meanwhile, had moved to the other side of the clubhouse while assisting someone else with an interview.

Anthony Santander was on his own.

The way he's wanted it to be in 2020.

Tiny gains in confidence have blossomed to where Santander is ready to speak on his own, without the bridge provided by Ramón Alarcón, the Orioles' Spanish translator and coordinator of Latin American operations.

Or is it a safety net that's been rolled up?

Santander didn't know a word of English after moving to the United States at age 16. Now he's conducting one-on-one interviews in spring training, starting conversations with a cheerful "hello" and "how's it going?" And always with a smile.

The 25-year-old outfielder and former Rule 5 pick chooses his words carefully, at a deliberate but steady pace. Not once did he stumble or lose his way yesterday while explaining his ability to grasp a most difficult language.

"You know, just be confident," he said. "I've been here for a long time and you just try to not be scared to speak. Don't be afraid to make a mistake, and I think that's the goal. Now my American teammates help me a lot."

Some foreign-born players claim to have learned English by immersing themselves in television programs such as "Friends," which airs daily in syndication. Santander, however, did it the old-fashioned way.

"Just talking to guys," he said.

"When I hear a new word that I didn't know, I just ask, 'Hey brother, what does this mean?' And that way I'll be learning. But an English class, I don't got.

"You have to put effort into yourself to try to learn, especially when you are in another country and our job is here and we have to be able to communicate. And I think I've been doing a good job. Just need to continue talking and not be afraid."

Teammates are drawn to Santander's personality and love how he's become acclimated to life in the majors, to surroundings that can be harsh and lonely to an outsider. They admire the effort he's put into breaking through the language barrier.

The level of respect for him keeps rising and it goes beyond statistics and starts, which figure to increase this summer as he becomes a regular in the lineup.

"He came to us three years ago in the Rule 5 draft and you could communicate with him a little bit," said outfielder Trey Mancini. "From Day One he was always working on it and trying to make conversation, and now in a three-year span it's really impressive. You can fully communicate with him and he's worked really hard on it."

The examples are stacking up.

Santander participated Wednesday in the team's on-camera interview that's posted on the media information site. Just Santander and Jim Misudek, senior manager of baseball communications.

"It's a really cool thing what he's done learning the language, and I admire it," Mancini said. "It's almost inspired me. I want to learn Spanish a little bit, too. I took it in school, from fourth grade through three years in college and I still can't tell you 10 words. I don't know what it is. I need like a crash course. I think that part of my brain doesn't operate that well. So I think it's really difficult to learn a foreign language, especially when you're older.

"I think if you're taught as a kid and really work at it, it's almost like playing the piano. It's kind of like the same thing. If you're a kid, it's a lot easier to learn and maintain as you get older than learning it as an adult. Especially that he's done that in his 20s is impressive and like I said, it offered me a little inspiration to maybe get an order of Rosetta Stone for myself."

The improvements sneaked up on outfielder Cedric Mullins, who dresses at a locker next to Santander.

"I've always communicated with him pretty well, as long as I've known him," Mullins said. "I guess, now that I think about it, it has gotten a lot better just in terms of him being able to approach you to talk instead of the other way around. He's improved a lot in that sense and I'm trying to do the same myself in terms of learning my Spanish."

Santander spoke with Alarcón last season about attempting to fly solo in interviews. His friend could stay close, but didn't need to interject unless there was a glitch in the gabbing.

"I told him that when I get interviews, I've got him next to me just in case I need him, but I'm just going to try," Santander said. "And I'm not going to be afraid to make a mistake."

Santander broke into the majors in 2017 after the Orioles selected him from the Indians organization in the Rule 5 draft. Five years after his professional debut. Back when hitting a curveball wasn't nearly as difficult as explaining how he did it.

"One of the problems I always say is when I got here I always was around Latin players, so after my first three years I started being around American players and that helped me little by little, and now I can communicate a little bit," he said.

"That's a problem for us, all Latino guys. When we first got here we didn't really care about speaking English because, honestly, we always say like our talent is going to talk for us. But that's not true. You have to be able to learn English and communicate with your teammates and the staff. That's very important.

"Yeah, my first couple years I didn't know nothing, so after that I started being around Americans and that helped me a lot."

Santander said he didn't try to get by with a few phrases that might get him fed more easily. Still no safety net.

"I can say 'no,'" he said. "I just need to continue practicing and learning words."

It's at this point in the conversation where Santander lowers his voice, shakes his head and says sheepishly, "You know? Sometimes I get nervous."

"I'll try to lose that," he said. "I'm not afraid of nobody. I don't know why I get nervous."

He laughs. The playful side of Anthony Santander is coming out again. And it isn't lost in translation.

Infielder José Rondón began to chuckle in the middle of his interview after glancing to his left and catching Santander gesturing at him.

"He's a funny guy," said outfielder Ryan McKenna, a teammate at Double-A Bowie in 2018. "He likes to keep it loose and he's come to have a sense of humor, so it's always cool to see that.

"You can tell he's obviously not an American, but for the most part it's very fluid communication. I find no real words in a conversation that he can't say. And he's a good dude. He does yoga. He's communicating and joking and all this stuff and it's pretty fun to see him do that in an environment where he isn't the most comfortable. Yeah, it's cool."

The visitor walks away. McKenna extends his arm and gives Santander a fist bump and a little more encouragement.

"In English!" he says.

Now they're both smiling.