World Champion San Francisco Giant’s shortstop Edgar Renteria had a great World Series, with seven hits in 18 at bats with two home runs and six runs scored and a .412 batting average. The five time all star delivered a three run go ahead home run in the top of the seventh inning of game five and was named World Series Most Valuable Player. Good work, but it seems that Renteria save his best work for the off season, where his contributions to his home country of Columbia are becoming second nature.
When Renteria returns to his hometown of Barranquilla, Columbia on Thursday he is asking that the planned parade and parties in his honor be canceled and all the funds be donated to the thousands of his fellow country men and woman that are the victims of recent flooding. The port city in northern Columbia has been ravaged by floods recently, with an estimated 900, 000 people being left homeless. Renteria said that “there are more important things back home” other than parades and parties.
Some may argue that parade and parties would help people take their minds off of their troubles, and in some cases it does, but it seems that Renteria chose to use his great World Series as a platform to raise awareness rather than celebrate. It is a tough judgement call but sometime people need monetary help more than moral victory.
In 2003 Renteria and his brother Edison created the Colombian Professional Baseball League, it is owned by the Renteria Foundation, and other major league players such as Orlando Cabrera have owned teams.
In baseball the saying goes”hitting is contagious” and with people like Edgar Renteria doing his part in a small Colombian community hopefully someday we can say that “generosity and common courtesy for our fellow man is contagious.” Sometime it is little gestures of good will and common sense that make a big difference in peoples lives. Although a parade would have been a great diversion for a few hours, the food and everyday necessities that these people might get with monetary help will last a lot longer. Lets hope that others follow Edgar Renteria’s lead and make stories like this the rule and not the exception.
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