We’ve visited Medellin and Barranquilla, so now it is time for Monteria, Colombia. Monteria is home to the Monteria Leones and is also the cattle raising capital of Colombia. What that means is you can get a really good steak on the cheap. Super cheap relative to the US. I forgot the name of the small restaurant I’d go to, but a typical steak lunch was about $6. Good stuff. There was an oddly placed Chinese food restaurant around the corner from our hotel, but I could only take so much fried rice – they piled it up like a mountain on a plate, which was usually good for lunch and dinner.
Anyways, what the stadium in Monteria lacked in aesthetics, it made up for in atmosphere. This place was packed every game with loud fans – this was my idea of latin winter baseball. And what made it much more interesting was the configuration of the dugout. The fans literally surrounded us because the dugouts are set far back and most of the team sits in chairs on a grass area that is just out of play.
Coach Gentry has a long list of baseball coaching experience, but some of the highlights are being a High School Coach of the Year in Southern California, being the head coach at the University of California Bakersfield, directing the So Cal Cardinals scout team in the MLB scout league, and covering the Southern California area as a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals.
If you are looking for instruction in the Southern California area, check out Coach Gentry’s Pro Player Academy in Bakersfield, CA. In addition to his baseball knowledge, you’ll be impressed by his character, professionalism and how much he cares about the success of his players.
Here is the Barranquilla installment in the series about my travels through the Colombian Winter League.
Barranquilla, Colombia is a coastal city that is the home of the Barranquilla Caimanes (Alligators) – this is the team that I worked for as the hitting coach during the 2010 season. Although the Barranquilla team has been very successful, winning the league’s past 3 championships, the city is much more well known as the birthplace of 2010 World Series MVP, Edgar Renteria…and let’s not forget Shakira!
Barranquilla Caimanes team shot at a pre-season press conference
Check below for more photos and a video from inside the ballpark
We finished up a week of camp that was packed with activity from start to finish. A typical day started at 8:30 with a warm-up and then right into scrimmage games that lasted until lunch time. Then afternoon groups were split up for instruction by position, as well as work in the batting cages and bullpens.
This video is a shot of the baseball stadium in Medellin, Colombia. Medellin is the second largest city in Colombia, and the Medellin Potros (Colts) were a new expansion team in the league this year.
Driving into town from the airport, Medellin was obviously in the mountains, but I was still surprised at how well the ball carried at this ballpark. I had to look up the elevation, which is listed at 4921 feet! Just like Coors Field….except the fences are closer in Medellin. Batting practice was definitely fun for the hitters, and there were plenty of homers in the games as well.
Another thing you’ll notice in the video is the music, which is usually played pretty loudly from the beginning of batting practice right up until game time. It was a bit different, but it made for a more fun, relaxed pre-game environment. One thing that was kind of funny is that they would play American rap songs unedited between innings, but the bad language wasn’t much of a big deal since there weren’t too many English-speakers.
Check below for a gallery of photos from the city…
Friday’s games were canceled as La Federación Dominicana de Peloteros Profesionales (Federation of Dominican Players) protested league sanctions that were imposed over the use of a player. Hopefully, the players and the league can come to an agreement and get back on the baseball field quickly.
Click here for full story from ESPN
Click here for the translated version of the story.
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