Spanish fluency may now be required for those who seek to coach the New

York Mets’, according to the HREF=”http://www.nydailynews.com/02-27-2005/sports/baseball/story/284807p-243988c.html”>New

York Daily News:

Two years after Roberto Alomar lobbied the Mets to hire a liaison to
Hispanic players because of a perceived lack of sensitivity, the
organization has left little doubt about its commitment to diversity. The
Mets have the only Hispanic general manager in the game in the
Queens-raised Minaya; a trusted deputy to Minaya in Puerto Rico-born Tony
Bernazard; New York’s first African-American manager in Willie Randolph; a
major-league coaching staff that includes three minorities – two born in
Latin America – and, according to the team, one of only two
Spanish-speaking head trainers in baseball. …
As for his diverse coaching staff, Minaya says it was formed in a
colorblind manner. Still, the GM allows that the ability to communicate is
one of his criteria in hiring. “A large amount of the players are
Hispanic,” Minaya says. “You want to be able to have the communication
skills.”

The New York Mets could boast of offering English classes to their players

– especially those teenage prospects who attend their baseball

academies. Instead they flaunt the Spanish fluency of their coaching

staff. Now none dare call them insensitive. And that seems to be the real

point of this ostentatious exercise in political correctness.