Baseball is not just a game—it is a melting pot where cultures meet and stories are all intertwined. For the reporters covering the sport, it’s all about connecting well with the players, well enough that they can open up to you. And for reporter Tricia Whitaker, that meant taking on a challenge most wouldn’t take—learning a new language so she could interview the players in their own mother tongue.

She actually was prompted to do this by Royals catcher Salvador Perez. He had asked her back in July to interview him in Spanish next season. And at first it all seemed fun and jokes—after all, how many people go out of their way to learn a language? It’s no kid’s play, right? But well, Whitaker seems to be cut from another cloth because she made learning Spanish her goal. And she, lo and behold, got help from none other than Perez himself.

Tricia interviewed with Perez in Spanish after the Royals’ win. She was fluent and earned the “perfecto” tag from the Royals catcher. She posted her interview on Instagram, “Terrifying, humbling, and a whole new respect for every player who does interviews in a second language. HUGE thank you to Salvador Pérez for his patience and for walking me through the whole thing. I made him a promise six weeks ago—I kept it.” Sure, she got applause, but internet being the internet, she was met with online trolls.

A user on X questioned her, “This is America, where we get pressured into learning their language when they come over… Hey Siri, play “Someone Make It Stop” by Mike. To this, she fired back, saying, “Normally I don’t give trolls traction, but this is such a tired comment in baseball, so let’s make it quick & simple: 1. Nobody pressured me—literally zero. Shocking, I know, but I can think for myself. 2. Speaking Spanish doesn’t make me less ‘American’—it makes me less lazy. The players I cover, who trust me to tell their stories every day, learn English. So I learn Spanish. That’s called respect, not rocket science, and definitely not the insecurity you’re choking on.” 

What a fitting reply, isn’t it? And if players and managers and coaches can learn the English language to settle in better, why can’t others learn different languages? Didn’t today’s biggest MLB stars, like Shohei Ohtani, learn English too? That made huge headlines, but yet someone learning otherwise garners trolls? Seems hypocritical to many fans. Nonetheless, many have appreciated the reporters’ zeal to do something out of the box. To show that learning another language is a bridge, not a barrier.

Meanwhile, the baseball side of Whitaker’s story was historic, too. She interviewed Salvador Perez after his 30th home run of the season. Royals tore it up with a 20-1 blowout—it was an offensive explosion that fans simply won’t forget.

Royals make history while Blue Jays’ playoff party gets pushed further

Friday night was simply fantastic for the Kansas City Royals. But for the Jays, it was a nightmare they would probably want to scrub from their memory. The Royals went on a tear and racked up a franchise record of 27 hits in a 20-1 win. Ten players had at least two hits, six drove in multiple runs, and seven touched home at least twice. Seemed like too much for batting practice, right? On the other side, Toronto came to Kauffman Stadium with the hope for a playoff berth but ended up on the wrong side of history.

Max Scherzer gave up seven runs while recording just two outs. Then things unraveled quickly as John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker were tossed. Toronto was forced to fix the game together with relievers and position players. This is where catcher Tyler Heineman’s name comes into the picture. He made history, sure, but for all the wrong reasons. In a brutal stretch across the seventh and the eighth innings, he surrendered 13 hits and 10 runs in less than two innings.

For context, according to MLB stats, no one has ever done that. His ERA went up from 9.99 to 32.40 in 33 pitches—which is insane! The Royals fan had plenty to cheer about apart from Perez’s achievement, too. Jac Caglianone, for example, turned a 54 mph lob into a three-run homer. The Jays, meanwhile, have their playoff party pushed back. Still, they are three games ahead of the Yankees—but in the baseball world, this edge means nothing, and if momentum is what they have lost, then it could be dangerous so late on.