on thursday, one of our top venezuelan players, a .280-something hitter, wanted to be interviewed. his english is limited and highly accented. i wanted to do it, but i had a previous commitment inverview-wise. anyway, i said "get three more hits tonight and i'll get you tomorrow," and he agrees, and he winds up getting four that night.

so that meant interview day on friday. and after i requested his presence, he said "i do so good in june and you never interview me" and i responded with "remember in burlington when we were going to do it with a translator?" and he replied "okay man."

so we sat down to begin the interview, and he asked me what i'd ask him about...he wanted to practice his english beforehand. so i said that i'd be talking about his improvement (he batted .150-something in april) or how tough it is to skip a level (this is the third level in the minor league ladder...he jumped from the first rung to this one).

and he began talking quietly to himself: "i've been woorking vely haad on my sweeng, and ze coaches have worked a lot on the eenside peetch and zey showed cone-feedince in me..."

and i asked if he was ready, and he said "les go man."

so i do my little intro...the team won in 13 innings on thursday...and i open it by saying "it had to be a real nice win for the team..."

and he said "i feel good. i've been working vely haad on my sweeng, and ze coaches have worked a lot on the eenside peetch and zey showed con-feedince in me..."

and all was good. (by the way, he carried himself very well for the three-minute interview).