There was a moment recently in the Astros clubhouse that featured Jose Altuve doing something noteworthy, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Altuve.
Altuve had executed a gambit in a game of cards, besting three teammates and, while smiling broadly, shifted in his seat to his left and uttered something in Spanish to third baseman Alex Bregman, who was not participating but was an acute observer. The episode offered a playful snapshot of their relationship, one that is typical in most clubhouses yet unique in the details.
Bregman, born and reared in Albuquerque, N.M., started learning Spanish during his prep years at Albuquerque Academy out of intellectual curiosity and for practical application. As a member of the USA Baseball 16-and-under national team in 2010, Bregman helped the Americans claim gold in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico.
One summer later, Bregman won gold again with USA Baseball, this time with the 18-and-under national team, which swept through nine games in Cartagena, Colombia. While at LSU, Bregman logged two summers with the U.S. Collegiate National Team, participating in five games in Pinar del Rio, Cuba in 2014.
That international experienced enabled Bregman to flex his nascent bilingual skills, and he relished playing the role of the interpreter while ordering at restaurants or sharing requests with Spanish-speaking staff whenever the need arose. But along his path toward professional baseball, Bregman recognized a greater desire within to fully immerse himself in Spanish.
“I just think it’s part of life: try to be a good teammate,” Bregman said. “You want to be able to communicate, you want to be really close to your teammates. That’s the main reason.”
When Bregman made his big-league debut on July 25, 2016, he became part of an infield that fueled his personal growth. Altuve, the superstar second baseman, and utility infielder Marwin Gonzalez hail from Venezuela. Shortstop Carlos Correa is Puerto Rican-born. Cuban first baseman Yuli Gurriel debuted nearly two months to the day after Bregman arrived.
Bregman pressed forward, establishing a rapport with his fellow infielders on and off the diamond. He understood that he could fortify his relationships with that subset of teammates by strengthening his ability to speak in their native tongue. Bregman long ago realized that communication is a two-way street, and for as much as is required of Spanish-speaking players to become bilingual, the inverse should be true for those whose first language is English.
“I think it just helps me with Marwin, Yuli, Correa, and Altuve – all the guys that speak Spanish,” Bregman said. “It’s just made me closer to them than I would be if I didn’t know Spanish. I’m able to be in conversations with them that I wouldn’t be able to be in if I didn’t speak Spanish. It’s important, and I think that everybody should make an effort to learn as much Spanish as they can.
“It should be both ways. They come over here and they have to learn English; I think we should learn Spanish to be able to relate back to them at the same time. It’s been fun; it’s really more fun than work to learn a second language. You get to laugh, mess around, have a good time when you screw up saying something the wrong way. They give you a hard time and vice versa in English. It’s fun for me.”
When the Astros made their run to the World Series pennant last season, their social media platforms were littered with images of Bregman planted alongside the Spanish-speaking infielders. Their relationship extends beyond the standard boundaries of athletes spending six months together, half of that time on the road. Even a passing glance at their bond revealed a kinship, something borne of a commitment greater than countless hours fielding grounders.
The effort Bregman makes in relating to the Latin-born infielders has not gone unnoticed.
“He’s one of the best teammates we have,” said Correa, who began taking classes in English as a fourth grader. “We see him try to learn Spanish to communicate with us in our main language. It tells a lot about the man he is.
“He’s a different breed. He’s obviously a great player, but as a human being, he’s amazing. You don’t get many players like that in a clubhouse.”
Bregman demurs when asked to juxtapose his magnanimous approach to team-building against a xenophobic political climate that touts constructing walls instead of bridges. But he grasps how his actions can be viewed as antithetical to a public discourse desiring insularity. When he scans the Astros clubhouse, he sees teammates who are far more alike than different.
Language is a flimsy barrier, a construct that could be dismantled with sincere commitment. After years of study, Bregman offers a testimony on what that commitment can yield.
“A lot of the guys that speak Spanish in here (the Astros clubhouse), we bridged the gap,” said Bregman, who estimates his Spanish-speaking proficiency to be 90% and aims to be completely fluent in a year or two. “I think that a lot of teams aren’t as close-knit as we are because a lot of the Spanish speakers don’t know English and some of the English guys don’t care to try and learn Spanish and relate to Latin players. Here we have guys that are constantly in communication in English and Spanish, and that helps us become closer as a team.”
