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BOSTON , 13 Jul (AP) \u2014 Red Sox All-Star Rafael Devers is practicing with his teammates both on and off the field.<\/p>\n
Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, the 25-year-old quickly rose through the minors, becoming one of the game\u2019s best hitters and brightest stars. He was voted the American League\u2019s starting third baseman for the second straight year. He\u2019s batting .326, with 19 homers and 51 RBIs.<\/p>\n
Signing with Boston at just 16, there\u2019s another thing he\u2019s had to work at off the field after coming to the United States \u2014 learning and speaking the English language.<\/p>\n
Devers speaks English well, but prefers to use a translator. He listens to questions and answers in Spanish before it\u2019s translated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t feel really comfortable doing the interviews in English. I feel comfortable sometimes, but I know I need to learn even more,\u201d he said through team publicist Carlos Villoria Ben\u00edtez. \u201cI don\u2019t like to make mistakes doing interviews or saying something I shouldn\u2019t. I\u2019m going to keep working at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Devers made his debut with the Red Sox at age 20 after spending just three seasons in the minors, starting in the Gulf Coast League in Fort Myers, Fla. There he realized the challenge of a new place, a different language.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not easy,\u201d said Devers, who added he hasn\u2019t taken any English classes. \u201cIt\u2019s not something you do overnight, but I try my best to learn the language. It\u2019s really hard for everybody that comes here, not only a baseball player, but everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now he says he can turn a phrase with his teammates on the field or in the dugout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty comfortable speaking English with my teammates and my coaches,\u201d said Devers, who is called \u201cLittle Papi\u201d by some fans in reference to Red Sox star and recently elected Hall of Famer David Ortiz.<\/p>\n
Cardinals star Albert Pujols, also Dominican, knows what the young star has gone through.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know the language. I had to learn it in high school. I had to learn it and finish high school,\u201d Pujols said. \u201cIt was hard, but it\u2019s like everything you want to accomplish in life; you have to put your mind into it and your heart, too. I always put my mind into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pujols knows how difficult it can be for young players to learn the language while they\u2019re playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need English to communicate in baseball, but you do need to speak English to communicate outside with the media and with the fans,\u201d said the 42-year-old Pujols, who announced he\u2019ll retire after this season.<\/p>\n
Boston manager Alex Cora said he was proud of Devers after he completed one of his first interviews in English during a postgame on the team\u2019s flagship radio station two months ago.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s extra BP, more grounders or spending time chatting with fellow players, Devers knows he\u2019s getting better.<\/p>\n
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BOSTON , 13 Jul (AP) \u2014 Red Sox All-Star Rafael Devers is practicing with his teammates both on and off the field. Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, the 25-year-old quickly rose through the minors, becoming one of the game\u2019s best hitters and brightest stars. He was voted the American League\u2019s starting third baseman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-195395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}