White Sox outfielder Melky Cabrera stood near his locker at Camelback Ranch with a team interpreter at his side for an early spring training interview when Jose Abreu entered the clubhouse and found a reason to give his teammate a hard time.
"No hablas ingles?" Abreu asked, poking at Cabrera for not speaking English.
"Take it easy, my friend," Cabrera told him in English.
"Take it easy," Abreu repeated.
Abreu spoke the language of Major League Baseball near perfection in his first two seasons since leaving Cuba, hitting 66 homers and totaling 208 RBIs in that span.