Random Observation

Every once in awhile, I like to tune into minor league baseball games via the awesome centralized multimedia service offered by milb.com. I’ve spent a lot of time this past year in cities where you are not really supposed to go outside at night alone, so when I’m lucky enough to find myself in a place with 24-hour internet that isn’t fast enough to access mlb.tv (which is every connection I’ve experienced since leaving Okinawa), milb gameday audio is a nice alternative to keep affiliated baseball as a part of my life.

This is usually a pretty enjoyable experience, but for the love of God, minor league baseball needs to take its announcers aside, organize a 5-minute conference call, and teach them how the hell to pronounce the names of Latin American baseball players.

Memo to every announcer I’ve ever heard butcher names: VOWEL SOUNDS DON’T CHANGE IN SPANISH! Each vowel has a distinct sound, and none of them are ever silent. It takes 30 seconds to learn how to pronounce Spanish names and words. Once you learn it, you’re set for life.

Repeat after me:

A: ah

E: eh

I: eee

O: Oh

U: ooh

There. There are a couple other little tricks (ll is pronounced ‘y’), but for the most part, now you know how to pronounce every single Latin American name you will ever be confronted with in the broadcast booth, and you are better at your job because of it.

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