BOGOTÁ, Colombia -- Days away from Colombia's first appearance in the World Baseball Classic, most of this country's inhabitants are getting a preview of the game through, well, a popular soap opera.
One of the plots of Colombia's highest-rated telenovela, Polvo Carnavalero -- A Carnival Affair in English -- from the Caracol TV Network, has the leading man, Alejandro Mallarino, a Bogotá-born, high-class gentleman who finds he has origins in the Colombian Caribbean coast, most specifically on the beach city of Barranquilla, learning to play baseball as part of his process of finding his roots.
This is a perfect metaphor for baseball in Colombia, whose team plays the United States on March 10. Baseball is followed in a few regions, exotic for the rest and always playing second -- or even fifth -- fiddle to other sports, including the undisputed king, soccer, and other disciplines. Baseball goes up against even cycling, which has a huge Colombian representative in Nairo Quintana, who won the 2016 Vuelta de España and is a favorite for this year's Tour de France.
"Baseball is strong in the Northern Coast, in Barranquilla, Cartagena, Sincelejo, cities in which there's a pro baseball movement," said Jesús De La Hoz, who covers the sport for the national El Espectador daily, based in Bogotá. "That's where Colombia's biggest baseball stars have come from."
Ready for WBC 2017 Colombia !!!@ernasty49 @jose_quintana24 @gams1411 @Julio_Teheran COMPA QUEEEE!!!! pic.twitter.com/wCTZ8UTxui
— Guillermo Moscoso (@gams1411) March 7, 2017
Whenever you speak of baseball in Colombia, the name Edgar Renteria comes to mind. The Barranquilla-born shortstop played in the majors for 16 years, won two World Series rings (with the 1997 Marlins and 2010 Giants) and was a five-time All-Star.
The Northern Coast of Colombia features the largest influx of baseball talent, and that's where most of the team Colombia roster for this World Baseball Classic comes from. Julio Teherán, who plays with the Braves, comes from Cartagena, as does third baseman Giovanny Urshela. The Solano brothers, Donovan and Jonathan, come from Barranquilla.
That's why Colombia's first WBC stint is not just about defending national colors. It's also a matter of trying to find a place for the game of diamonds in a nation that lives and breathes soccer, filled with historic figures such as Rene Higuita and Carlos "Pibe" Valderrama and current stars such as Real Madrid's James Rodríguez, Monaco's Radamel Falcao García and AC Milan's Carlos Bacca.
If you read national storylines in Colombia, you will hardly find any baseball coverage. The two largest newspapers, El Tiempo and El Espectador, have featured interviews with Colombia manager Luis Felipe Urueta, but they are buried among coverage of James' 100th goal playing with Real Madrid and the Colombian soccer derby between América de Cali and Atlético Nacional.
"People from the Central region don't care about baseball, and this is quite complicated to explain," De La Hoz said.
"It has a strong following up North, though. Barranquilla and Cartagena papers have lots of space for the WBC. The Colombian team, before meeting in the U.S., held practices in Cartagena. Instead, in Bogotá, people who care about baseball could be counted with one hand's fingers."
"Colombia has its strength in our starting pitcher," Urueta said to ESPNDeportes.com. "We will try to win each and every game."
Maybe Urueta shows optimism as a way to give a boost to his players. Colombia plays in the so-called "Group of Death," Pool C, with the favorites Dominican Republic and the United States, as well as a quite respectable Canada team.
"Colombia, with all honesty, has to try to beat Canada, so it will ensure a presence on the next Classic," De La Hoz said. "This is a realistic aspiration because of the powerhouses Colombia plays against."
De La Hoz, a staunch baseball man in a soccer-mad country, wants more than just a spot for team Colombia for the next tournament.
"Colombia's games will be broadcast on national television," he said. "That's a large step so that many people who don't know about the Colombian baseball team will be able to know about it. If we have a good outing, we can rely on sentimentalism and get people to be a bit more interested.
"There's the example with cycling. Six years ago, you could hardly find any coverage on that sport, and there was a Colombian representation, but we didn't have an established star. Thanks to Nairo Quintana, cycling started booming, people got interested. If team Colombia does well in this Classic, people will pay attention, and fans' eyes will be opened."
Despite the scarce interest, the future of baseball in Colombia, thanks to stars such as Teherán, Quintana and the up-and-coming Urshela, looks promising.
"I spoke with an Oakland scout recently, and he said to me that Cali [a city in the western Valle del Cauca] was growing in the quantity and quality of its ballplayers. So it's possible that baseball keeps on developing and expanding across the country," said De La Hoz, who recently wrote an explainer on the WBC and will travel to Miami to cover team Colombia. "There are plenty of young players, and it keeps on growing."
Maybe Colombia, in the end, will write its own telenovela ending at the WBC.
