(Cuba’s Pedro Lazo, the anti B.K. Kim)
From the Washington Post’s Dave Sheinin.
“This is a revolutionary team,” Cuban left fielder Frederich Cepeda said after the game. “Baseball is not judged by the price of the athletes, but by the heart of the people.”
That quote was translated to English-speaking reporters by a bilingual American reporter, after Francisco Campo, the official translator hired by the tournament to serve as a media liaison to the Cuban team, failed to fully translate Cepeda’s answer. Another time, when an American reporter asked a question about the political ramifications of Cuba’s victory, Campo failed to pose the question to the Cuban players.
Campo explained that he had been instructed not to translate politically charged questions or answers. A tournament spokesman, however, said those instructions did not come from tournament organizers.
In a completly unrelated story, the Cubs PR department is considering appointing an English-to-English translator for their manager and GM. Injury-charged questions may or may not be translated.