The Best From Colombia
By Jesse Spector
Daily News (New York)
September 18, 2005
Only seven Colombian-born players have ever made the major
leagues, and just
one from Barranquilla, but that town has plenty to be proud of - aside
from
being the hometown of pop star Shakira - as does the entire country.
In addition to headlining baseball's Colombian contingent, Edgar
Renteria is
one of a select few players in major league history to end the World
Series with
a base hit, as Renteria did with his RBI single off Indians pitcher
Charles Nagy
in the 11th inning of Game 7 of the 1997 Fall Classic.
At the age of 30, Renteria still has much of his career in front
of him, but
he's made quite an impact as one of the game's elite shortstops as a
member of
the Marlins, Cardinals and Red Sox.
Renteria has been at his best when it has mattered most, hitting
.304 in two
World Series. Last year, as his Cardinals were being swept by the Red
Sox,
Renteria was one of the only St. Louis players who seemed to have a
pulse, going
5-for-15 with a team-high three doubles. For the second time in his
career,
however, he was the final hitter in the Series, grounding out to the
mound to
seal Boston's championship.
The shortstop on the other side in last year's World Series was
another
Colombian, Orlando Cabrera, and baseball was the dominant sport in
Colombia for
perhaps the first time ever.
"They start the news with the World Series and that's never
happened,"
Cabrera said last October. "Soccer is the big sport there."
Indeed, baseball in Colombia has come a long way from the days of
Medellin-born Luis Castro, the first Colombian major leaguer, who
played 42
games for the Philadelphia A's in 1902. After that, it was 72 years
until
another player from the country made the majors, but with the interest
sparked
by players like Renteria, it's unlikely that there will be such a gap
again.
Other notable Colombians:
Orlando Cabrera, Jolbert Cabrera
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