Seattle Times: Baker: Cultural differences don’t hurt unity of M’s clubhouse, team insists

Or as diplomat turned flamethrower, Octavio Dotel-Paz, once said…“Every view of the clubhouse that becomes extinct, every culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility of true baseball life.”

But with this early season Mariners collapse, there have been increased questions about the togetherness in their clubhouse. And as the Mariners drift toward irrelevance, owners of the worst record in the American League after a 12-inning 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, it’s fair to ask whether some of the linguistic and cultural barriers are making it more of a challenge to mold this unit into a team.

Those who put the team together and play on it say that’s not the case.

“There are always unique circumstances on every roster, international or not,” Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi said. “These are all human beings. They have different perceptions of reality. They’ve got different approaches to life. So, any club that is not as international, or doesn’t have as much diversity as we do, that thinks they’re off the hook, they’re nuts.

“For us to think we have more than another club, that’s not really true either. It’s different in that we have different cultures. But generally speaking, when they walk through the door to play, those go away.”