Colombian Media Visits Renteria, Cardinals
Colombian scout, TV show visit camp
By Derek Glanz
March 16, 2001
After being surrounded by the Latin American and East Asian media that follow the Dodgers and Mets around, the Cardinals had their own visitors from oversees on Friday. Reporters from Canal 6:25 in Cartagena, Colombia made their annual visit to Cardinals camp on Friday to check in with Cardinals star shortstop Edgar Renteria.
The first thing reporter Jose "Tito" Quintero did when he met up with Renteria was pat him on the belly - "Getting rid of the 'barriga' (belly), eh?" (There are no personal space issues between the ball players and media because there is no personal space.)
Renteria was a scrawny kid from a dirt-poor family, and the Colombian reporters are quick to point out that he is the same good kid he was as an unknown ball player in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Canal 6:25 is the most popular news show in the gorgeous coastal city, which then-President Bill Clinton visited a few months ago to formally introduce the Plan Colombia, a $1.3 billion aide program intended to curb the drug business and fight the civil war.
Tito is the interviewer for the baseball spots shot here in Jupiter. He is also a scout for the New York Yankees.
Tito's cameraman Manolo Duque is another utility man - he doubles for the TV and radio.
Tito recalls the story of Edgar Renteria's signing. Renteria accompanied his brother to a baseball tryout camp held by then-Florida Marlins scout Levy Ochoa. Ochoa looked at all the line-up of players at the tryout, turned and pointed to a kid kicking around a soccer ball out beyond the right-field corner. "I want to see him." Renteria was 16 and was signed almost immediately.
Quintero, who joined the Yankees in 1994, is one of 13 or 14 major league scouts in Colombia now. He says there's a ratio of about three scouts per prospect, and the rest are marginal. Money, resources and the quality of instruction prevent more Colombians from advancing.
There are a few regions in Colombia where baseball is popular. Cartagena, on the north coast, is the one place where baseball is king. Also on the north coast are Barranqulla, Renteria's home town, Monteria and Sincololo. In the interior, baseball is popular in Cali. San Andres Islas, an archipelago in the Caribbean 390 nautical miles from Cartagena, according to Tito, breeds tremendous physical specimens, but their taste for partying impedes their development.
Also preventing the development of Colombian ball players is the lack of instruction. After age 17, they have nowhere to go.
"They have leagues, they play till they are 17 years old," he says. And after that? "That's the problem. When they turn 17, they cannot continue developing, they have to play with older guys - 30, 32, 28, 29 year olds. They don't have a chance anymore."
But, of course, it comes down to money.
"Baseball there has a problem," says Tito, whose godfather's son is Danny Tartabull. "A baseball costs seven dollars, a dozen $84. That's 170,000 Colombian pesos. It's hard to play because a bat, glove, catcher's equipment are expensive. Soccer, they play without shoes, in the street. Soccer is easier to play and it's cheaper."
The Cardinals have a scout based in Colombia named Neder Horta. There are currently three Colombian major leaguers - Orlando Cabrera (Expos), Jolbert Cabrera (Indians) and Renteria.
Renteria has his own school in Barranquilla, but political turmoil and violence have prevented him from expanding across the country. His goal is to set up camps across Colombia.
The gentlemen from Canal 6:25 in Cartagena also conducted a Spanish language interview with Tony La Russa, whose mother is from Asturias, Spain.
They asked how often over the course of a season La Russa was inteviewed by the Latin press. He said, "About 10 to 20 times." He told them Renteria can bat anywhere in the line-up.
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