Felipe Alou and Orlando Cepeda know how far young players have come learning English

These baseball stars tell what it was like coming to the USA in the 1950s, compared to what the new players experience now.    - - Donna Poisl

By JANIE McCAULEY  AP Baseball Writer

SAN FRANCISCO — Felipe Alou and Orlando Cepeda knew little English when they arrived in the minor leagues in the mid-1950s, putting them among the first wave of Spanish-speaking players thrown into a different culture to play professional baseball, build new lives and send money back home.

It was their chance to make it in the sport they loved, provided they could overcome challenges that often extended beyond the field.

Early on, well before blossoming into a Hall of Famer, Cepeda was told by a manager to go home to Puerto Rico and learn English before coming back to his career in the U.S. Alou had similar experiences and forced himself to speak some English when he arrived from the Dominican Republic, yet he still lacked confidence in the language.
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