I met George Alfano, a freelance reporter, when I saw Jason Schmidt pitch a rehabilitation start for Class A Inland Empire in May.  Alfano and I were the only two reporters (if I may be so bold as to call myself one) covering the event.  He covers the California League by trade.

Alfano wrote an article for The Press-Enterprise last Thursday regarding Latin minor leaguers and the steps taken by clubs to help them learn English:

Mastering a foreign language can be a challenge, as most students can tell you after trying to resume learning the second year of a language after a summer vacation. Like math, history, or science, people have different aptitudes and learn at different paces. All three local teams make efforts to teach players English when players are at lower levels of minor league baseball.

Alfano interviewed Mario Alvarez, currently with the Inland Empire 66ers, who learned English with the Dodgers' Dominican Summer League team.