Latin players could use more support. (Insider: baseball).

When Eddie Oropesa joined the Diamondbacks at the beginning of spring training, his teammates knew virtually nothing about him.

The Cuban defector has not commanded the English language and simple pleasantries were about the only exchanges Oropesa and his teammates made with each other.

Then a story appeared in The Arizona Republic outlining how Oropesa defected in 1993 by climbing a chain-link fence during an international competition in Buffalo and running through the stadium in his Cuban uniform. The hardships that ensued included 2 1/2 years without his wife and children in America. After seeing this story, his teammates had a far better ...