Multilingual Baseball - by Brendan H O'Connor (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

What can baseball teach us about language, culture, and society?

The first book-length exploration of multilingualism in professional sports, Multilingual Baseball provides an intimate look at language diversity in the transnational world of baseball. Based on extensive interviews and observations in the US and the Dominican Republic, the book foregrounds the voices of current and former players, coaches, front office personnel, international scouts, language teachers, and interpreters, with baseball experience in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States.

Engaging a wide range of foundational concepts within sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and linguistic and cultural anthropology, the analysis reveals the relevance of bilingualism to the social and economic realities of professional baseball as a transnational business. It also illuminates day-to-day encounters with linguistic and cultural difference on the field, in clubhouses, and in communities around the world. Through this linguistic lens, the book delves into social issues in diverse societies by connecting interactions within baseball to the broader challenges of immigration, race, and demographic change. While grounded in the experiences of Spanish and English speakers in US Major League Baseball organizations, Multilingual Baseball presents the transnational game as a microcosm of globalizing societies around the world, inviting readers to consider what we can learn from the bilingual understandings and misunderstandings that arise in everyday baseball interactions.

Review Quotes

"Everything about Multilingual Baseball is deeply, radically humanizing in its approach." --Linguistic Anthropology

"O'Connor explores the multilinguistic world of baseball, thoughtfully exploring the interplay of welcoming and subordination among languages and speakers. It provides a vivid and illuminating way for readers to learn about language in society, of interest to fellow scholars, teachers, and of course baseball fans." --Josiah Heyman, University of Texas at El Paso, USA

"Brendan O'Connor's ethnographic depiction of linguistic patterns in Major League Baseball illustrates the complex interrelationship between professional sports, race, immigration, social ideologies, and common sense notions towards language. This insightful, colorful, and critical take on professional sports is a must read for scholars and sports enthusiasts interested in issues surrounding language and culture." --Eric J. Johnson, Washington State University, USA

"Through a captivating blend of humor, academic rigor, and life stories of experienced ball players and support staff, O'Connor navigates the reader through the multifaceted landscape of multilingualism in baseball. The book... unfolds as a masterfully crafted narrative that interlaces sociolinguistic principles with the captivating realities of the baseball world... A terrific read for individuals who want to be able to visualize how complex concepts like cultural capital, pluralism, monoglossic language ideologies, and racialization come to play in language exchanges." --Bilingual Research Journal

"O'Connor clears up common misconceptions about the functions of language in professional sports while sharing deep introspections of multilingualism from differing positions in the transnational business of baseball ... As an accessible and informative exploration of language diversity in popular culture, Multilingual Baseball is an engaging text meant for scholars and baseball enthusiasts alike." --Language in Society

About the Author