La Vida Voices: Suzanne Medina of MLB.com

Almost every day I’m on MLB.com reading content, both in Spanish and English. If you’re like me, you have perhaps unknowingly appreciated the hard work of Suzanne Medina.

Suzanne grew up surrounded by baseball in Arizona. Baseball was a family passion for Suzanne; she learned the game from her grandfather and mother while watching Cactus League games each Spring. That passion has driven her to now work as the Senior Director for Spanish Content Development & Operations at MLB.com.

For the past 15 years, Suzanne has performed just about every role to make sure Latino stories are covered, from reporting from the baseball diamond, producing content from the field, to editing and managing the final product. I have admired her commitment to making sure that Latino players, coaches, and their families are dealt with the respect that will ultimately result in building trust and a better product for us the readers and viewers.

The passion she learned from her grandfather and mother still comes through in her work. We had a chance to chat recently about her journey in the game and what excites her heading into 2019.

Adrian Burgos, Jr: What sparked your love of baseball and your career journey in covering the game? Was it a favorite player or team?

Suzanne Medina: I started playing softball when I was seven years old so my interest in the game started at a very early age, but my love of baseball was influenced by my grandfather, Tata Ray. He was a huge Dodgers fan and idolized Fernando Valenzuela. He had this old white transistor radio and he would listen to the Dodger games in his adobe house in Eloy, Arizona. I remember how he’d talk about Valenzuela with so much pride.

My earliest baseball memories come from watching the A’s at Phoenix Municipal Park and the Giants at Scottsdale Stadium during Spring Training. I think every baseball fan remembers their first autograph and mine was Rickey Henderson, one of my favorite players as a kid. A few years ago, I took my mom to an event he was at. I told my mom to stay calm and begged her not to embarrass me. A few minutes later my mom is pulling Rickey Henderson across the room by his arm and bringing him over to me. She whips out her cell phone, gives it to Rickey’s wife and tells her to take a photo of the three of us. I still have that photo.

AB: From your days writing through your current work as Senior Director for Spanish Content Development & Operations at MLB.com, you have brought a unique voice as a Latina to the coverage of the baseball scene. Why is it important to have bilingual writers and Latina voices covering baseball?

SM: Every time I see a Latino player struggling to do an interview in English, I get uncomfortable for them. Bilingual writers remove the language barrier which allows the conversation to flow more organically. If a player is more focused on how to formulate a sentence in a foreign language, you’re not getting the best interview.

From story ideas to writing styles, Latina writers are bringing a different dynamic and voice to the coverage of baseball. They ask different questions, but they also ask the same questions differently. For example, I’ve witnessed a male reporter and a Latina reporter ask the same question and get different responses. The male reporter’s question was received with a quick glance and silence. Moments later, the Latina reporter’s question – the same question as the male reporter – was answered in addition to her follow up question. What was different? Her delivery and her tone.

I’ve always told my reporters to be respectful of a player’s family. It’s not only helped me when interviewing a player, but it’s also helped in gaining the trust of that extended family. Once you’ve gained that trust, your conversations are different, they start to show you another side of themselves. You can develop some great feature stories from these conversations.

AB: You’ve covered countless stories that show how Latinos try to become accustomed to life in the United States as well as their lives back in their native countries. Are there particular stories that took us away from the baseball park and allowed us to get to know the other side of the players’ lives that are your favorite? Why? Also, which players that you have covered in this way did you gain a new appreciation for?

SM: One of my favorite stories that took us away from the ballpark was a story we did on Ervin Santana. We sent Jesse Sanchez and a camera crew to Ervin’s house in Kansas City when he was playing for the Royals. We met Ervin’s wife, Amy, who learned Spanish while they were dating, and Ervin’s mother who was visiting from the Dominican Republic. Ervin talked about being signed by the Angels at 18 and suddenly being put on a plane to the United States without knowing a word of English. My favorite part of the story is when we see the whole family gather in the kitchen while Ervin’s mother is cooking (arroz con pollo!). It’s in this part of the interview that we learn more about Ervin Santana – the son, the husband and the father.

We recently did a story about Lourdes Gurriel Sr., and his sons, Yuli and Lourdes Jr. This was a project born out of passion by one of my reporters, Nathalie Alonso, who did a phenomenal job. Lourdes Sr. reached every conceivable milestone in his native Cuba, but never had the opportunity of testing his skills against the best in MLB. Now two of his sons are playing in the Major Leagues after defecting in 2016. It’s a great story about the Gurriels, considered to be the first baseball family of Cuba, but it’s also about a father’s relationship with his sons.

I gained a new appreciation for Salvy Pérez after the 2014 World Series. Before Game 7, Salvy was in great spirits and promised to talk to us after the game, win or lose. The Royals lost, but Salvy kept his word. He stood there, choked up with tears in his eyes, and gave us the interview that he’d promised. In that moment, he was so many things – a great sportsman, humble, a man of his word – but most of all he was human.

AB: You’ve covered MLB for over fifteen years and have witnessed quite a bit of change. How has the relationship between Latino players and writers changed? What kind of impact has the addition of translators as part of team’s staff had on your work? What additional types of changes would you advocate for to get Latino stories out to the baseball public?

SM: It changed drastically with social media. It’s common for Latino players to communicate with us via a DM (direct message) on a social platform. As for the addition of translators, it’s all been positive. We speak the same languages and, for the most part, we both want the same thing and that’s for the best stories on Latino players to be put out there for baseball fans.

I’m not sure what kind of changes I’d advocate for, but I’m one hundred percent in favor of getting these stories told. Twenty nine percent of players on Opening Day rosters in 2018 were foreign-born, mostly Latino, and there’s a story behind every single one of them. Some of the things they’ve gone through are unimaginable. Yet they leave their families at a young age, move to a country where they don’t speak the language and, yes, some have risked their lives. It’s our job to tell these stories.

AB: 2018 was quite a year for Latinos. Álex Cora became the first Puerto Rican manager to lead a team to a World Series title. You witnessed Vladimir Guerrero’s homecoming after he was announced as the first hitter from the Dominican Republic elected into the Hall of Fame. Albert Pujols reached 3,000 hits and Bartolo Cólon set a new mark for most wins for a Latin American pitcher. What do you see as the key Latino baseball storylines for us to look for in 2019?

SM: I think Manny Machado will be one of the key storylines in 2019, if not the storyline of the year. Which team will he choose? How will he perform? How well will he blend in with his new team? Will fans welcome him with open arms? Can he overcome the controversy that started during the Postseason? Everything he does in 2019 will be under a microscope.

The other storylines will be the influx, and potential impact, of young Latino players like Eloy Jiménez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatís Jr. Last year, we saw a huge impact by Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto and Ronald Acuña Jr. so it will be interesting to watch the 2019 rookies.

AB: We can’t wait for Opening Day 2019 and what the coming year will bring. It was great catching up with you, Suzanne. Be sure to follow Suzanne on Twitter:

Featured Image: Courtesy Suzanne Medina

Inset Images: Courtesy Suzanne Medina