Last summer we told you the fascinating story of Phillies Spanish Language interpreter Diego Ettedgui. 

Good thing we shared it when we did, because Ettedgui won’t be returning to the Phillies in 2024.

One of only a few of the original Spanish language interpreters remaining after an MLB mandate for each team to employ one beginning with the 2016 season, Ettedgui informed the Phillies this week that he would not be back next season, choosing instead to take a new job as a regional representative with Rawlings, the sports equipment manufacturer.

“For eight years I lived a life that not even in my wildest dreams I could have imagined,” Ettedgui told Crossing Broad. “It was an absolute honor to work for a top class organization which also happens to have the best fans in baseball.”

Ettedgui became a bit of a fan favorite in his time with the Phillies and was an erstwhile subject of jovial banter on the TV broadcast, often drawing a few laughs from Tom McCarthy and John Kruk:

His role evolved to being more than an interpreter as he took on more and more small responsibilities over the years to help the Phillies out, but probably none more important than being a reliable assistant to all of the Phillies’ Latino players with their day-to-day needs.

“It’s going to stink losing him,” said a Phillies spokesman.

While there is no official job posting yet, it’s expected that they will post one soon. The position was shifted from a communications position to a baseball operations position in recent years, so that department, headed by president Dave Dombrowski, will dictate when the position will be listed.

“I want to thank the Phillies phamily for letting me be one of them and experience what I can only call ‘the American dream,'” Ettedgui said in a text. “For that I will forever be grateful and love them.”

Ettedgui will leave Philadelphia with a lot of fond memories – maybe none more than getting a Red October bracelet from Crossing Broad’s Intern Grace in Arizona.