Monday Rockpile: Paul Worley gives Rockies prospects real-world English practice

Getting started

A native of North Carolina, Worley spent five chilly years at the University of North Dakota before heading home to “cold I understand,” as he put it, and took at job at Western Carolina University. That’s when he began working with the then-Rockies affiliate Asheville Tourists. A friend mentioned to Worley that his neighbor taught English to some of the Tourists players during the summer, and she was looking for a co-teacher. He expressed his interest to Sherry Mahawald, and that’s how it started. (This — he thinks — 12 years ago.)

(Read more about Mahawald’s work with the Tourists here.)

Around 2020, Mahawald moved to other projects, so Worley began teaching the courses himself as an in-person project.

“Once the season hit, I would teach class during the day, and then (my family and I) were at the park every night,” he said.

However, with the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and MLB’s decision to realign the Minor League system, Worley found himself without that job — until Angel Amparo and the Rockies put their classes online and asked Worley to continue his work.

“I was happy to stay on with them,” Worley said.

Today, the instruction happens online with Worley and his family making a yearly trip to Hartford to see the Yard Goats and “connect with the guys and meet with them in person.”

For Worley, “It’s been a really rewarding experience.”

How it works

In terms of the classes, it’s pretty much like any other educational environment — except the students are professional baseball players.

Worley begins by laying out the requirements of the course: “You’ve got to come to class. If you’re not going to come to class, you’ve got to let me know.”

But he’s also aware that the players’ English work is in addition to their day job, which is playing professional baseball.

“This is an extra thing that these guys do,” he said.

His instruction is mostly one-on-one because, Worley explains, “For me and my teaching style, I feel like that works a lot better than a group.”

This means that the sessions tend to be an “intense,” 25 minutes, which is something he cautions the players about early on.

But like any good teacher, Worley wants the assignments to have “a very specific product associated with them.”

Dr. Paul Worley

As a case in point, he cites an assignment that involves students making an advertisement.

“We have an assignment that is basically you have to do an ad,” he said. “One of the ways that all athletes make extra money is to create or to do endorsements, and so I walk them through everything from the language that you need and ‘What do you want to say?’ ‘How do you want to say it?’ ‘How you want to dress?’ One of the things that we really emphasize is, ‘You all need to remember that you’re always being looked at. You’re a professional athlete. People are looking at you.’”

This is an assignment that encourages students to consider where they should film, how they should present themselves and the product, and how they should talk about it — or vocabulary.

At the same time, Worley is committed — like the best teachers are — to making learning fun.

“I want them to have a good time,” he said. “They need to be fun because the more fun they’re having, it lowers the affective filter, and they’re more comfortable. And the more comfortable they are, the more open they are to learning and even to making mistakes.”

In addition, the players make visits to schools, whether that’s in person or via Zoom. Part of that involves players learning to provide community service; part of it is about players interacting with a new group of English speakers.

“It’s because kids tend to be less judgmental,” Worley said.

The students submit questions in advance so that Worley and the player can review them, but it leads to a 25-minute Q&A session — and it’s more challenging than you might think.

“It’s hard to operate in a language other than your first language,” Worley said.

There are also lessons that happen outside the classroom. After all, the primary goal of the cultural development program is for players to learn to navigate their lives in the United States.

Worley recalls a player he worked with who was traded to a team with a Florida spring training camp. When Worley went to visit him, the player said, “Teacher, I went, and I did my cellphone completely by myself!” which is a significant accomplishment for someone whose primary language is not English.

This has to do with the pragmatic focus of Worley’s curriculum.

“You’re going to go to this place. You’re going to talk to this person. What’s the vocab you need? What do you got to practice? How you greet them? How do you walk through it?” Worley said, explaining his approach.

“He was incredibly proud,” Worley added, “and he has every right to be proud because he took the English that we were using right in class.”

Besides, most players are committed to having more seamless interactions with those around them.

“I’ve never had a student who wasn’t aware of (the cultural integration piece) and didn’t want more and better interactions with folks in the stands, folks at the grocery store.”

It’s part of the program’s focus on developing the player as the whole person.

“The world’s most-intense study abroad”

Worley is clear about the challenges his students face.

“I think the way that I’ve described this — both in teacher meetings and to folks I know — is that the only way I can conceptualize what these players do as students is it’s kind of the world’s most-intense study abroad,” Worley said.

“They come to the United States. They’ve had English classes down the Dominican Republic, and then they’re up here. So let’s just say it’s like a second- or third-year language student from the United States who leaves. But the catch is that every night they’re going to be doing something professionally in front of a few thousand people.”

In addition to the pressure from the crowd comes the need to communicate with teammates.

“You’re under the microscope in front of a couple thousand people, and your teammates that you were interacting with as colleagues a little bit ago, now, everybody’s yelling at each other to do something in English, and you’ve got to do it right. And so that, I think, is a real challenge.”

An additional challenge is scheduling because baseball players lead busy lives, which has led to Worley teaching — whether in person or virtually — in some unusual classrooms.

“For example, I’ve done English class at a barber shop. I’ve done English class at the mall because they very intentionally make time for English class,” Worley said. “Sometimes, I’ll get a message, and they’ll just say, ‘Teacher, I have to go to the bank,’ and you can’t be mad and say, ‘Listen, I need you in your apartment doing English.’ A player’s got to go to the bank, and I’m not going to ask why.”

For Worley, teaching virtually has its benefits and its challenges.

“It makes us more flexible,” he said, but he also understands the value of face-to-face interaction.

There are also times when a student is missing class, and Worley has to intervene, but such is the nature of teaching.

Generally speaking, though, these are dedicated young men who see the big picture.

“Given how international signings happen, they’re super focused,” Worley said. “I think part of that focus is recognizing on a certain level that, long-term trajectory, on top of everything else, whether that’s hitting off-speed stuff or working on a changeup, they also have to learn English. And it is an awesome extra thing for them to have to balance.

“All of them, I think, are envisioning a future for their families, and I think that is a weight that a lot of them carry,” he continued. “They are powerfully intrinsically motivated to do the things that they’re doing, and English, class becomes a part of that for lots of them.”

On the farm

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 5, Sugar Land Space Cowboys 4

Cole Carrigg got the game off to brisk start by hitting a home run (4) in the first inning. However, the lead was short-lived after Carlos Pérez answered with a three-run homer at the bottom of the inning. In the third, the Space Cowboys extended their lead with a CJ Alexander RBI-double, making the score 4-1. The ‘Topes started their return in the sixth when Braxton Fulford hit a two-run double (5) that scored Vimael Machín and Chad Stevens. Fulford doubled (6) again in the eighth inning, scoring Machín and tying the game. Finally in the ninth, Nic Kent struck out swinging but then advanced to first on a wild pitch, which allowed Chad Stevens to score the winning run.

The Isotopes are 23-16.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 5, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 2

Zach Kokoska got the scoring started in the second inning, hitting a two-run homer (5) that allowed Cole Messina to score. The Rumble Ponies answered back in the bottom of the inning when Eli Serrano III doubled to score Matt Rudick. Following that, Diego Mosquera scored on a throwing error by center fielder GJ Hill. In the third inning, Messina was hit by pitch with the bases loaded, and Dyan Jorge tallied the Yard Goats third run. Then, Kokoska singled to score Andy Perez. Roc Riggio hit a homer (6) in the fifth, and that finished the scoring for the day. Starting pitcher Connor Staine went five innings, allowing two runs, both earned, on two hits. He struck out six and walked three.

Hartford Yard Goats 5, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 0

The Yard Goats and Rumble Ponies played two, making up for a missed game on Saturday — and it was all Goats, so much glory. In the second inning (again) Zach Kokoska homered (6), scoring Aidan Longwell and Bryant Betancourt. Then, still in the second, Dyan Jorge singled on a ground ball to score Conner Capel. Following that, Andy Perez singled, bringing home Jose Torres. And that was it for the scoring.

The Yard Goats are 16-16.

High-A: Spokane Indians 8, Tri-City Dust Devils 3

Kevin Fitzer got the Indians on the board early by hitting a homer (5) in the first inning. A Matt Coutney homered in the second tied the game followed by an Anthony Scull home run that gave the Dust Devils the lead. In the bottom of the second, Fizter homered again (6), this time a grand slam that scored Jacob Hinderleider, Juan Castillo, and Caleb Hobson. In the third, Hinderleider also homered (3), scoring Kevin Hildago. Scull answered back with another homer in the fourth, but the Grizzlies never looked back. They scored on a wild pitch in the ninth for their final run.

Starter Yujanyer Herrera went four innings, giving up three runs (earned) on three hits. He also walked two and struck out two.

The Indians are 13-20.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies 8, San Jose Giants 2

The Giants struck first in the third inning when Cam Maldonado whacked a two-run double. But then, the Grizzlies entered the chat. In the third inning, Jack O’Dowd singled to score Roldy Brito, and the game was 2-1. In the fifth, the Grizzlies tied things up with a Clayton Gray single that scored Carlos Renzullo. Following that, Cameron Nelson doubled (3) and scored Gray, giving the Grizzlies the lead. When the fifth inning was over, the Grizzlies had a 5-2 lead. They scored in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings as well. O’Dowd went 3-for-5, including two RBI.

Starter Ethan Cole went four innings, giving up two runs (both earned) on three hits. He struck out two and walked one.

The Grizzlies are 19-14.

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