Renteria Brings "Rare Feeling" To The Cardinals
Dan O'Neill Of The Post-Dispatch
March 8, 2003
Last season, he tied a longstanding team record for runs batted in by a shortstop.
As the sun glistens on another Florida morning, the Cardinals snap through a brisk session of infield drills at Roger Dean Stadium. The baseball pops in and out of gloves and sizzles from station to station. With each arrival, it is processed and advanced in equally efficient manner.
The rhythm and harmony of the Gold Glove studded crew is mesmerizing to watch, a baseball adaptation of a Harlem Globetrotters routine. All that's missing is "Sweet Georgia Brown." When the exercise ends, manager Tony La Russa and a group of players observing enthusiastically applaud.
Shortstop Edgar Renteria acknowledges the moment by breaking into dance and the entire group cracks up. It is a personality Cardinals fans seldom see, a side of Renteria his teammates cherish, a side his coaches and managers universally admire.
"He's one of those special guys that has a real rare feeling for the game," said Jim Leyland, who managed Renteria and the Florida Marlins to a World Series title in 1997. "He has fun doing it. He has fun figuring out things. He's a very, very bright player. It's just an instinctive thing with him; he's just got it."
Spanish-speaking players, those who don't speak English fluently, remain largely anonymous to American audiences. The media does not seek them out for postgame analysis. The language barrier makes it difficult for them to project their individuality. Renteria, a native of Barranquilla, Colombia, has expanded his English in recent years and is quite capable of conversing. But he is, by nature, a shy and proud man, and his persona is much more accessible in Spanish.
Fernando Vina, who speaks Spanish and English with equal aplomb, has become Renteria's keystone comrade and close friend.
"Obviously, me being able to speak Spanish, to go both ways, I can enjoy that we really hit it off together," Vina said. "I think people do miss out. But he's coming along, speaking English in meetings and stuff. I think he's kind of relaxed. Every year, he gets a little better with his English and he's grown into himself and feels more comfortable."
Every year, Renteria's classification as a player seems to elevate. He is in his eighth major-league season, and yet he is only 27, a year younger than Derek Jeter and two years younger than Nomar Garciaparra. Last season, Renteria put up superlative numbers: .305 batting average, 11 home runs, career-high 36 doubles, career-high 83 runs batted in. His 82 RBIs as a shortstop (he had one as a pinch-hitter) equaled an 81-year-old franchise record for RBIs by a shortstop.
He won the National League Silver Slugger Award and won his first Gold Glove. He even received votes in the NL Most Valuable Player balloting.
The statistical values are plain to see, but the talents his coaches and teammates most appreciate are more sensory. The Cardinals have several "stars" in their lineup, but if they were a hockey team Renteria might be wearing the "C." In fact, La Russa regularly calls Renteria "Captain," out of respect and affection.
"It's kind of a recognition of his place on the team," La Russa explained. "Edgar is just a really unique combination of a player and a person. He absolutely buys the winning thing and isn't afraid to try it."
Translation: Renteria puts the final score ahead of the fine print. With the game on the line, the batting order has no tougher out. Renteria batted .372 with runners in scoring position last year, third best in the NL. Leyland knows the quality well. In 1997, the righthanded-swinging Renteria delivered a game-winning hit in the National League playoffs against San Francisco. Later that postseason, he stroked a two-out single in the 11th inning to win Game 7 of the World Series.
"At a young age he was a very mature, advanced player, which is rare," Leyland said. "He had a great feel in big situations for not trying to do too much, for having a good understanding of what that pitcher was going to try to do to him. Put it this way, you can go to camps, as I have, and you can talk to players, and you can manage players for 10 years, and sometimes things still haven't sunk in with them. I mean, they're very good players and they live on their physical ability and do very well. But this guy has that sixth sense of smelling things."
Renteria also has a profound sense of pride. He wishes Major League Baseball had not pulled its operations from his native Colombia in the mid-1980s. It disappoints him that Americans consider Colombia a dangerous place, home to drug cartels, celebrity kidnappings and violence. "They never show the good things in Colombia," Renteria said.
"It's a beautiful country. We have everything, beautiful scenery, coffee ... we have a lot of good things. But they never show that, only the bad things. When they talk about Colombia, they talk about how they kill a lot of people and they have the drugs, and all of these bad things. I don't know why they never go there and show the good things."
Renteria is a huge celebrity in his country and, as such, pampered and protected from adverse situations. He has a residence in Miami but he visits Colombia each winter and makes a point of being visible and accessible. While soccer is the No. 1 sport in Colombia, Renteria does his best to promote baseball to aspiring youngsters.
"The people recognize me, I feel good being recognized," he said. "When people don't recognize you, you're in trouble. You want to be good to see, have a kid follow you. That's why I try to do everything right. I want to be a good role model."
Edgar's older brother, Edinson, 35, played infield in the Astros and Marlins organizations from 1985 to 1994. The Renteria family consisted of 14 siblings, but six died shortly after birth. When Edgar was growing up, he and his brothers and sisters shared four beds in one room. His father died before Edgar's first birthday, leaving the responsibility of raising a big family to his mother.
Vina has spent time with Renteria's family, which includes four boys and four girls. "What it all boils down to is Edgar has a great heart," Vina said. "He comes from a family that is just good-hearted people. His mom is just amazing. I met his family for the first time when I got here and they just take you in with open arms. They treat you like you're family and I see that and I know why he is the way he is.
"He's very proud and very patriotic of his country and proud to be one of the few guys in the big leagues, not only to be in the big leagues but to make his mark. He deserves it. He's worked hard from where he's come from and works hard at what he does."
Leyland managed for 14 years in the big leagues, in Pittsburgh, Florida and Colorado. He supervised marquee players such as Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, Larry Walker and Moises Alou. His son Patrick, 11, has been exposed to those players and many more, and yet ...
"For whatever reason, he just took to Edgar," Leyland said. "Edgar Renteria is Patrick's No. 1 favorite. That told me something."
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