"The Mets needed an out in the eighth inning Monday night, clinging to a one-run lead, but what they really needed was a translator. Standing at the mound, with the game on the line, were Steve Bieser, the utilityman who speaks English but was making an emergency appearance as a catcher; Edgardo Alfonzo, who speaks Spanish and some English but no Japanese; and Takashi Kashiwada, who speaks no English, no Spanish and who kept nodding as Bieser went through his signs." - Sportswriter Buster Olney in The New York Times (05/28/1997)