Josh Rosenthal reflects on pioneering the Rockies Cultural Education & Development program, and changing the cultural education landscape across ML...

Author’s note: When we started on this series, we envisioned three or four articles that described what the Rockies are doing to support their Latin American players as they transition to playing professional baseball. As we learned more about it, however, we discovered there was much more here — and that the Rockies were at the forefront of ensuring Latino baseball players received educations that prepared them for the next steps in their lives, whether that was playing baseball or doing something

else. It doesn’t get enough attention — and we’ve only really come to understand it through telling this story — but five MLB teams radically re-envisioned what becoming an MLB player would look like for Latino prospects.

All photos are courtesy of Josh Rosenthal.

Two weeks ago, we discussed the Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program, which began in 2012. That article highlighted the program in its current form, but in a phone interview, Josh Rosenthal – the original architect of the program – shared how the program came to be and its impact on Major League Baseball.

Origin story

Rosenthal served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. Upon his return, he was introduced to now-Vice President of International Scouting and Development Rolando Fernández by his brother, Zack, who was an assistant general manager for the Colorado Rockies at the time.

“[Fernández] had this dream for building an education program for the Latino players, and my brother was talking to him about it,” Rosenthal said. “My brother had been working for the team since 2006, and he introduced me to Rolando, and we hit it off when we met for the first time, talking about the idea for this project and this program. And every time I went to visit my brother, I would connect with ‘Ro,’ and we would brainstorm about the possibility of this program, not ever knowing whether it would come true or whether funding would become available.”

They stayed in touch, discussing the framework for a program should it come into existence.

And in 2012, it did.

Rosenthal interviewed for a position to build the program, but his inspiration always came from his time serving in the Peace Corps because of the culture shock he experienced serving in El Campo, Guatemala.

“I needed to really adapt to a very different culture, and I also needed to learn a new language all at the same time,” Rosenthal said.

He sees the experience of the Rockies Latin-American prospects reflected in his own.

“That’s what these boys are having to do, as well,” he said.

“They’re learning a new culture, moving from the Dominican Republic or Venezuela or wherever to the United States. It’s a different culture and a different language. So I’d been through what they’ve been through. I also have a passion for helping people. Being in the Peace Corps, you’re given a unique gift to help people every day. That’s your job. And so I was looking for something that was fulfilling. Obviously, I was a baseball coach, baseball fan and (came from) a baseball family. My brother was the assistant GM for the Rockies for a long time, so this was a marriage of all my passions – teaching, language, travel and helping people in baseball.”

Setting the standard

When the Rockies started their program in 2012, only four other teams had dedicated education programs and full-time education coordinators: the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals, the Detroit Tigers, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Other MLB teams had English programs, but nothing really comparable.

“We’re really setting these players up for success, both on and off the field, during and after their careers,” Rosenthal said.

During that time, Neskys Liriano, the education director for MLB, and Rafael Pérez, the director of Dominican operations for MLB, pushed education programs and challenged teams to build better infrastructure to support them. MLB also dedicated space at the Winter Meetings for these five teams to share resources, so other teams could build their own programs.

Eventually, Rosenthal and Angel Amparo partnered with the New York Yankees to create one of the first high school education programs that allowed students to earn their high school diplomas while playing baseball.

“If I die tomorrow, that’s my legacy more than anything,” Rosenthal said.

“These boys develop all these amazing skills – they develop leadership, hard work, discipline, teamwork… They’re international. They know how cultures work in the United States. They’re bilingual. They have all these amazing experiences, but then they go home, and they have no high school diploma, so they can’t get a good job.”

Not everyone was on board, however.

“When we developed the high school diploma program, at times there was a little bit of pushback” Rosenthal said, “because we’re in the business of winning championships, not educating young men.”

But Rosenthal knew that was the wrong approach.

“We did the research, and we backed it up, and we said, ‘No, an educated player is a better player. And somebody who has the self-confidence and understands that they have a fallback when their career is over – whether it’s after a 10-year career in the big leagues or whether it’s when their career fizzles out in the Dominican Summer League or rookie ball – they’re going to be more confident knowing that they have a fallback,” he said.

“They’re going to be better learners because they’ve had formal education, and they’re going to be able to more quickly learn English. They’re going to be able to more quickly communicate with their teammates and their coaches. They’re going to be able to understand more quickly what the coaches are teaching them about pitching or hitting.’ So we were able to justify this education for them beyond just being on a moral ground.”

They also had support from others in the front office, including former general manager Jeff Bridich.

“His wife has a doctorate in education, as well, and the Monforts are kind and loving people who supported us, and they told us that they’d pay for the program,” Rosenthal said.

“And now all 30 clubs have programs.”

Creating a new culture

Since this was a new program, there was a big learning curve in the first year for Rosenthal and his team as well as the Rockies organization.

Rosenthal was hired in mid-February 2012 and reported to spring training in Scottsdale just two weeks later. During that spring, he spent most of his time observing baseball operations and interviewing players and coaches to learn as much as possible about Major League Baseball.

Then he got to work on a guiding handbook, which wasn’t without challenges.

“I worked and I grinded and I made copies of English books and picture dictionaries and all this stuff,” he said. “I was in my office just grinding away and I didn’t really feel like I was part of the team.”

He approached then-GM Dan O’Dowd, who told him to be more present with the team.

“So instead of being locked in my office, I started being at practice,” he said. “I started being on the field. I started sitting in the dugout during games or sitting in the stands with the players and working with them and talking about baseball in English, but I was also able to show off my knowledge of baseball in the game and I was able to have conversations with the coaches and they understood and the players understood and respected (me).”

That helped build rapport within the organization as well and set the standard that English classes were just as important as baseball instruction.

“There were some times where players would get called out of my class for a meeting with a hitting coach and I had to step up and be like, ‘No, you can’t leave. You’re in my class right now,’” Rosenthal said. “And I would have to make a statement. There was a time when a coach came in because Rolando wanted to see a player, and Rolando is all powerful, but I would say, ‘Nope, you can see him in 30 minutes when class is over.’

“I have all the respect in the world for Rolando – he’s one of my mentors,” he continued. “But English class is just as important as looking at a video for hitting or pitching or mental skills. That was the culture that we built, and it was appreciated because of that. If a player missed English class, it was like he missed BP, and he wouldn’t play in the game. And we had that culture and guys never missed. It was mandatory, and that was really important.”

In addition to creating new norms in the classroom, Rosenthal and his team also had to break some old norms outside it. Most important was better integrating the dugout and the clubhouse — literally.

“When I first got here in 2012, the dugouts in spring training were separated,” Rosenthal said.

“The Latino players were on one side, and the American players were on the other side. And I went in and said, ‘Hey, we need to change this. You need to mix up these lockers.’ And they said, ‘No, it’s the way we’ve always done it.’ And there was some pushback, and I basically was like, ‘Guys, we’re literally segregating these players. It’s a big word, but this is literally what this is.’

“And they acknowledged it, and they were like ‘We never even thought about it. This is just the way we’ve always done things.’ And sure enough, I had Bridich go in and talk to the clubhouse staff and say, ‘You’re going to go in and mix up all these lockers.’ Now, it was a lot of work to move everyone’s locker, but they did it, and we really had unification of our American and Latino players.”

Another way they unified the players was with a language lesson at the beginning of every meeting in spring training.

“We would do a word of the day or the phrase of the day at the beginning of our morning meetings,” Rosenthal said. “I would call on an American player and I’d call on a Latino player, and the American player would have to say the word of the day in Spanish, and the Latino player would have to say it in English. And everybody was learning, and they were working together, and it was impactful.”

Proudest moments

While there have been a number of players who have reached the Major Leagues, Rosenthal said he’s most proud of “the guys who have become coaches and scouts and that sort of thing because those guys have careers for the rest of their lives.

“I know their kids are going to go to great schools. I know that their children are going to be educated, really breaking the cycle of poverty,” he continued.

“A guy that makes it to the big leagues could lose all his money. It’s wonderful that they made it to the big leagues, but we have Michael Ramirez who’s the Latin American Hitting Coordinator. Cesar Galvez is the manager in (Single-A). Alving Mejias is a crosschecker, and that’s one of the highest roles in scouting. Helmis Rodriguez is a pitching coach. These are all guys that came up through our program, and at times, we would be talking to the front office guys and I’d say, ‘Hey, when this guy’s career is over, this is the type of guy that we want to become a coach or have a role in our program.’ And these are guys that have been hired by the team and have careers that are going to be able to support them forever. So those are the guys I’m most proud of.”

As far as players go, Rosenthal cited six players who played for their countries in the WBC: Germán Márquez, Antonio Senzatela, Huascar Brazobán (who is now with the Mets), Ezequiel Tovar, Juan Mejia, and Carlos Estévez.

“One of my proudest moments was the Dominican Republic versus Venezuela WBC game, which was the biggest game in Latin America,” Rosenthal said. “We had six players in those games – Márquez and Estévez didn’t play – making significant impacts in these huge games that were the biggest in their country’s history. It was just really special to see them on that world stage, and that was one of my proudest moments for sure.”

Looking to the future

Rosenthal left the team in December 2019 to spend more time with his family, but he still keeps in touch with the Rockies.

“I keep in contact with them,” he said. “I stop by the complex usually once a year. Angel and I are best friends. We still talk on the phone. The Rockies staff is pretty much the same as when I was hired in 2012 – the core group is still there, and those guys treated me like family and took care of me.”

Additionally, he has turned his focus to his nonprofit, the BASE Foundation, which “provides educational opportunities for boys who are active and dedicated baseball players, but come from low-income communities and have limited resources.”

But most importantly, Rosenthal highlighted the impact these education programs have had on the Latin American communities.

“I think Latin American baseball and its affiliation with Major League Baseball, in some ways, has a bad reputation,” he said. “They sign these players at 16, and that means a lot of these kids drop out of school and go and work and train full-time in an academy and put their education on the back burner. But the education programs that the teams are building and providing to the players make baseball part of the solution, not part of the problem.

“It’s really amazing,” he continued. “It’s gone beyond our wildest dreams that all 30 clubs have active education programs now, and all 30 clubs have high school diploma programs. That’s thousands of kids that have received a high school education in addition to becoming bilingual, learning financial planning, learning emotional intelligence, and those types of skills will help them be successful both on and off the field, during and after their careers. It’s really wonderful.”

Up next

In the coming weeks, we will have interviews with some of the teachers, as well as player experiences and community involvement.

Stay tuned!

On the Farm

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 4, El Paso Chihuahuas 3

The Isotopes fell back to earth, only scoring four runs after scoring 45 in their last two games combined. They managed to still beat the Chihuahuas (Padres), though, so that’s positive. Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP), Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) and Jose Cordova each recorded two hits, but it was Chad Stevens who singled in the eighth to secure the win.

Caron Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP) pitched three innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Patrick Weigel pitched three more scoreless innings, but Seth Halvorsen gave up two runs in the seventh to blow the save. Blas Castaño and TJ Shook put up two innings of zeroes, though, to close things out and earn the win and the save.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 12, Reading Fightin’ Phils 6

It was a home run parade in Hartford, as the Yard Goats defeated the Fightin’ Phils (Phillies). The Goats hit eight extra base hits — four doubles, one triple, and three home runs.

Each of the Goats’ starters had at least one hit, and they racked up 17 in total. Aidan Longwell did the most damage, doing 3-for-5 with a triple, a home run, three runs scored and three RBI. Bryant Betancourt also had a three-hit day, recording a double but also scoring two runs, recording an RBI and taking a walk. Dyan Jorge, Andy Perez, Benny Montgomery and Cole Messina (No. 26 PuRP) also had two hits apiece.

Starting pitcher Connor Staine threw five innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Carlos Torres pitched two scoreless innings, but then Sam Weatherly got lit up for three runs on three hits in his inning of work. Luckily, Fidel Ulloa was able to finish the game with just a walk and two strikeouts.

High-A: Eugene Emeralds 8, Spokane Indians 1

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Jeff Criswell — making his second start of his rehab assignment after having Tommy John surgery in March 2025 — started the game, pitching a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. But the damage was done against the other three pitchers. Yujanyer Herrera (No. 22 PuRP) pitched 2.2 innings and was tagged for two runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout. Fisher Jameson pitched 3.1 innings and was tagged for three runs (two earned) on four hits with three strikeouts. And Hunter Mann gave up three more runs in his one inning of work, including one walk and three strikeouts.

Low-A: Stockton Ports 5, Fresno Grizzlies 4 (F/10)

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