By SCOTT BROWN
Florida Today

VIERA, Fla. - One night, he would catch Bartolo Colon from the Dominican Republic. The next night, it might be Javier Vazquez from Puerto Rico.

Michael Barrett, born and raised In Atlanta, also had to regularly communicate with starting pitchers from Venezuela (Tony Armas Jr.) and Japan (Tomo Ohka) last season.

"I should have won the Nobel Peace Prize," the affable Montreal Expos catcher joked.

Yet keeping the peace in a locker room that is as diverse as any in professional sports has not been a problem. Maybe it's the little things that go a long way toward maintaining harmony among teammates who come from all over and confirm that Major League Baseball has gone global.

Things like Barrett going to the mound during a close game and encouraging Ohka by saying "saiko," which means "Let's go!" in Japanese. Or relief pitcher Scott Stewart, who is from North Carolina and is southern as grits, going to eat sushi with Ohka.

Maybe the players know a fractious clubhouse will bring down a team faster than tired legs and sore arms.

Or maybe the Americans embrace getting to learn about different cultures, not recoil from it. Especially since many of them have played in different countries themselves and can relate to having to overcome language barriers and negotiate new cultures.

"It's pretty cool to see everyone else's culture and how everyone acts," said Stewart, who has played winter ball in the Dominican Republic. "We've got the whole melting pot right here."

Indeed, 10 different countries are represented on Montreal's 40-man roster - interestingly enough, there are no Expos from Canada - and Americans (22) only slightly outnumber Latin-Americans (15).

"Amazingly enough they get along great," said second-year third base coach Manny Acta, who also acts as a translator for the Latin players that don't speak English. "That was the thing that shocked me at the beginning when I got to Montreal. You walked into this place and there's meringue booming in the clubhouse and two minutes later, there's Eminem and there was never a fight over the music because they get along so great and respect each other."

"It doesn't matter where you're from," Armas Jr. said. "It's like family here."

International flavor

It's a diverse family, that's for sure.

At times last season, Barrett was the only American in the starting lineup.

This year, at least three of the four starting infielders will hail from Latin America (Puerto Rico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic). The same goes for two of the three outfield spots (Venezuela and Dominican Republic).

Colon was traded during the offseason, but his spot in the rotation will be taken by a Cuban (Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez). Meanwhile, Korean pitcher Sun Woo Kim is one of the frontrunners for the fifth spot in the starting rotation.

"The other day, we were on the mound talking about situations for pitchers and you had a Korean, a Japanese, a Dominican, a Mexican, you had me, a French-Canadian and a white American and a black American," said roving pitching instructor Claude Raymond. "We were kidding about it, but it's nice because you meet people from different places."

Raymond, who pitched for 12 seasons in the major leagues, was the first French-Canadian to play for the Expos.

Montreal always welcomed diversity

He saw Montreal embrace diversity long before these Expos.

The year before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color line in 1947, he played for the Montreal Royals, then the Los Angeles Dodgers' Triple-A team.

"In Montreal, there was no segregation," recalled Raymond, "so we took a liking to him."

Jean-Pierre Roy, who pitched for the Royals that season and became friends with Robinson, said neighbors treated his wife, who was pregnant with their first child, particularly well.

They went grocery shopping for her and some even knit clothes for the baby.

The biggest resistance Rachel Robinson's husband encountered in Montreal came from American teammates who didn't embrace the idea of playing with an African-American, Roy said.

Robinson, Roy said, eventually won them over with his play - he led the International League in hitting that season - and leadership. When the Royals beat the Louisville Colonels in the decisive game of what was known as the "Little World Series," joyous fans put Robinson on their shoulders and paraded him through the Montreal streets.

"He had already been declared a hero," said Roy, who lives in Pompano Beach.

Waves of change

Major League Baseball has radically changed since Robinson integrated it in 1947.

The Expos now have a Latin-American general manager (Omar Minaya) and an African-American manager (Frank Robinson). That their roster is dotted with players from all over the world is a reflection of the change that has occurred in baseball.

Latin players have long enjoyed success in the major leagues and now Asian players are starting to make inroads.

A handful of pitchers have had varying degrees of success, and Japan's Ichiro Suzuki proved position players could also play when he won the American League MVP award as a rookie in 2001.

This year, Hideki Matsui will try to become the first power hitter to make the transition from the Japanese to the majors.

"I think baseball has gone in that direction for a while, much moreso than it was 10 years ago," Robinson said of the influx of foreign players. "It's reaching out and finding talent wherever it can find it."

One reason American teams have had to look far beyond their own borders for talent is because baseball is this country's national pastime in name only.

"They have other interests and options, that is the problem," Robinson said of American kids. "The kids here don't (favor) baseball the way they used to. Changes in sports, changes in the world."

Those changes have brought new challenges to managers like Robinson.

Robinson, who managed in Puerto Rico for almost 10 years prior to becoming a big-league skipper in 1975, said he thinks not "fully" understanding different cultures can hinder a foreign player's development.

Robinson found out one time just how different some cultures are from America.

One time, he was talking to a player and the player refused to look him in the eye. A clear sign of disrespect in Robinson's eyes.

"I said, 'Hey look at me. At least look me in the eye,' " Robinson said.

"The interpreter said 'No, that's disrespect.' It's just simple things like that."

Little things bridge cultural gap

Simple gestures, such as saying hello to someone in their native language or making an attempt to learn some basic words, can go a long way toward bridging cultural differences, Acta said.

"We come over here and if and if we don't understand what guys are saying, we always think they are talking bad about us," said Acta, a native of the Dominican Republic. "Just the same way (Americans) feel when we're speaking Spanish and you don't understand it. So whenever they have someone get close to them, they love it."

One player who has gotten closer to them - or closer to being like the Latin players - is Ohka.

This, according to team strength coach and Japanese native Kazuhiko "Kazu" Tomooka.

Tomooka said in Japan, baseball players take a businesslike approach to the game. There is very little talk in the clubhouses, Tomooka said, and even smiling is rare.

"Latin guys," Tomooka said, "are always dancing in the clubhouse or the weight room."

Being around them, Tomooka said, has made Ohka a lot looser.

"Even during practices, you see (Ohka) smiling," Tomooka said. "That's a big change for him."

He has resisted what would be an even bigger change by politely declining Stewart's invitations to go hunting and fishing. Still, the pitchers who come from different worlds are friendly enough that last year Ohka called Stewart over to his locker and had him listen to a song.

It was a Japanese band singing "Welcome to the Jungle," the song made famous by the American heavy metal band Guns N' Roses.

"It was pretty butchered," Stewart said.

Fortunately for Stewart and the rest of the players in the clubhouse, fellow relief pitcher Joey Eischen is the resident DJ .

He has an expansive CD collection that includes Latin groups, having been influenced by Spanish culture growing up in southern California as well as playing several seasons of winter ball.

He does have one rule when he is taking requests.

"No country," Eischen said.

A rap song was playing in the clubhouse Saturday afternoon when Raymond and a couple of other coaches walked through it.

As he passed by the CD player, Raymond snapped his fingers and did a little shake and shimmy.

A 65-year-old French-Canadian busting the move. Latin players speaking rapid-fire Spanish in all corners of the locker room and a Japanese reporter waiting to interview Ohka.

Only in Montreal.

"Overall, it's amazing how everyone just blends together," Barrett said.

"When you're wearing that Expos uniform, it doesn't matter where you're from, you're a member of the Montreal Expos and that's the most important thing."

That and having diverse music tastes.

Expos' diversity extends to manager, GM

It seems only fitting that Omar Minaya and Frank Robinson head a team that is as diverse as any in professional sports and work in a city that embraced Jackie Robinson before he broke the color line.

Near the end of what proved to be a Hall of Fame playing career, Robinson became the first African-American manager in Major League Baseball. The 67-year-old Montreal Expos skipper is now managing in his fourth decade. At around this time last year, Minaya, 44, also made history, becoming the first Latin-American general manager in Major League Baseball.

"I think one of the neatest things about our camp is we have the first African-American manager and first Latin general manager. I think that right there in itself defines the model for the rest of us," Expos catcher Michael Barrett said. "If they can work together and be productive and provide quality leadership, it's amazing how far that will go down into the system."

The two proved to be successful in their first year together.

Robinson guided the young Expos to their first winning record (83-79) since 1996. Meanwhile, Minaya gave the team a legitimate chance of winning the National League East by pulling off a couple of midseason blockbuster trades.

"You just feel fortunate you were given the opportunity and the fact that you were given the opportunity might make a difference for others," Minaya said. "I am grateful to be the (first Latin-American GM). At the same time, I know that comes with a lot of responsibility. If I open the minds of others to give more opportunity, then we can become more inclusive as a society."

Robinson downplayed the impact of his hiring as a player-manager by the Cleveland Indians following the 1974 season.

He wanted to keep playing and when the Indians offered a chance to play and manage, he took it. In his first game in his new role, he hit a home run in his first at-bat and guided the Indians to a win.

During his 12-year career, Robinson has managed the San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles and now the Expos.

He won American League Manager of the Year honors in 1989.

"I wasn't out to be the first minority manager," said Robinson, who has a career record of 763-830. "The only reason I became a manager at that time is because the opportunity came up."