Charlie Montoyo on his language lessons

Like many Latin American players, Charlie Montoyo didn’t speak a lick of English when he first arrived in the States. (John Antonoff/Sun-Times)

GLENDALE, Ariz. — On his second day in the United States, Charlie Montoyo, then 17, got lost for three hours in San Jose, California, after looking for food, saddled with the reality of not speaking a word of English and with cellphones not yet in existence.

Learning English wasn’t just one of the conditions of the scholarship program that brought Montoyo from his native Puerto Rico — it was essential for him and the other Latin American prospects in the program to survive on the baseball field and in the real world.