Ump Bans Youth Team From Speaking Spanish
METHUEN, Mass. (AP) -- An umpire ordered players on a local Little League team to stop speaking Spanish during a state tournament game this week, a decision the coach said demoralized the team and cost it the game. "This never should have happened," coach Chris Mosher told the Eagle-Tribune newspaper. "These are 14-year-old kids who should not have to deal with any of this, especially in Little League baseball."
National Little League spokesman Lance Van Auken said there's no rule against players speaking Spanish or any other language on the field. But he said it's too late to reverse the decision or the outcome of the game.
Mosher said he tried to file a protest after the game, but under league rules, protests must be filed before the game ends.
"It appears the umpire was concerned that the coach or manager may have been using a language other than English ... to communicate potentially 'illegal' instructions to his players," Van Auken said in an e-mail to The Associated Press Friday. "The umpire simply overstepped his authority, and there was no malicious intent."
Mosher said the incident happened Tuesday night during a Junior Little League game against Seekonk in Lakeville.
Methuen was winning 3-1 when assistant coach Domingo Infante instructed the pitcher in Spanish to try to pick off a runner at second base. After the unsuccessful attempt, the umpire called time-out and spoke with a Little League official who was at the game. The unidentified umpire then decreed that only English could be spoken.
"All I could hear was, 'We cannot allow this,'" Mosher said. "At this point I was baffled why we could only speak English."
Mosher said he challenged the ruling, but kept his team on the field after the Little League official said it would stand.
An angry Infante then left the field, which Mosher said demoralized his pitcher and catcher, who speak little English. Methuen lost the game 10-6, though the team remains alive in the tournament.
Van Auken told the Eagle-Tribune the umpire won't be punished.
"You're talking about human beings," Auken said. "Human beings do make mistakes."
Poster Comment:
- The article does not address whether the umpire's ruling was legitimate under Little League rules.