Columbia's Finest Are Not BFFs

The country of Columbia is known for many things, and most of those things have a lot to do with the country's biggest export: cocaine. What Columbia isn't known for really. is producing top baseball players. While other South American, Central American, and Caribbean countries produce baseball players by the boatloads (literally), Columbia has always been more of a soccer obsessed country.

Really, the only two baseball players that Columbia is known for right now are two shortstops who currently play within in the same divison: Orlando Cabrera and Edgar Renteria. Well, thanks to an article Eamonn found and wrote about at FanHouse yesterday, it's become apparent that though they're countrymen, they don't like each other very much.

They don't even speak.

In the tunnels of Detroit's Comerica Park, a clubhouse attendant, much like a carrier pigeon, delivers a message that will echo in a country thousands of miles away. It's a simple request for a meeting between two shortstops, intended to avoid a full-fledged controversy — a polémica, as they say in Colombia. The attendant enters the Tigers' clubhouse and finds Edgar Rentería. "Edgar," the clubbie says, "Orlando Cabrera says he would like to speak to you." But Rentería does not wish to speak to Cabrera, his counterpart on the White Sox, his fellow Colombian. The day before, Rentería explained why to a reporter: "I won't accept dealing with him. I think he's disrespected so many baseball people in Colombia who have been working to improve the sport. And that's not something I can accept, even with an apology from him."

Apologizing wasn't what Cabrera had in mind before the third game of the season's first series between the AL Central rivals. (Both players are with new teams and playing in the same division for the first time in 10 years.) Cabrera was looking to make peace, or at least ask for clarification. But one thing is clear: The two best baseball players in the history of their country are not on speaking terms.

The whole article is pretty interesting, and I suggest you take the time out to go over to ESPN the Magazine (online!) to read the entire thing. Obviously, considering that Cabrera plays for the White Sox, and Renteria plays for the rival Detroit Tigers, I tend to side more with Cabrera in the argument.

Though not just because of the team allegiance, but because in the article Orlando comes across more like he's at least trying to make amends between the two. He's the one who sent the letter to Renteria. He's the one who tried to engage Renteria during one of the first six games the Sox and Tigers have played, when while standing on second base he said to Renteria "Man, it's cold out here, huh?" All Renteria did was stare straight ahead and pretend Orlando didn't even exist.

Oh, and then there's the fact that the biggest reason Renteria is in the Majors is because Orlando's dad was the scout that originally brought Renteria to the Florida Marlins attention.

Renteria tends to come more across as, and these are E's words from the FanHouse article, "the high school cheerleader bemoaning her own popularity."

As I said, it's a very interesting article that I suggest you read, and it will no doubt make the rivalry that already exists between the White Sox and Tigers that much more interesting.