Adapting to baseball also means adapting to U.S. life, say Latinos

Published: 2003-10-06

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- Playing Major League Baseball is the dream of many youngsters. But for foreign-born Latinos, reaching the big leagues also brings the restless nights of living in a strange country and adapting to a new language and a different environment. "I opened my eyes and realized that I was not in my country and I would have to adapt myself," said Marvin Bernard, a San Francisco Giants outfielder. Bernard was born in Nicaragua and arrived in the United States when he was 12. Going to school, he said, made him understand that he was confronted with a different language and culture. "In our countries we are used to sharing; here that is rare. Neighbors know each other, but here the doors are always closed," he said. Bernard and four other players for the Giants were interviewed by El Heraldo, the Spanish-language monthly published by the San Francisco Archdiocese and the Sacramento and Oakland dioceses. Common threads in the players' interviews were the need to learn English, their hard work to excel on the baseball diamond and the longing for their homeland and families.

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