“I wanted to ‘thank you’ for your writing + photos of Colombian baseball. I was very happy to see someone be so informed on Colombian baseball history. I learned a lot from your coverage. Plus, I was honestly moved by your use of kind words regarding Colombia and its baseball exposure to the rest of the world.” – Frank, native Colombian

Take a walk in the central park of many Colombian cities and you'll find families with children, vendors hawking their wares - and iguanas. Yes, iguanas. Big iguanas. Take a cab to a nearby ballpark along the Caribbean coast - and you find talented baseball players, including some of the best shortstops in Latin America.

While Colombia is a soccer country, on its Caribbean Coast, baseball is "numero uno," where teams from Barranquilla in the north to Monteria in the south play at dilapidated ballparks. Like much of Latin American, Colombia is indeed a poor country, but it also is home to hope, with the Colombian Winter League trying to grow.

Colombian-born Major League shortstops Edgar Renteria and Orlando Cabrera have not only played in their winter league, but both have an ownership stake in a few of the teams. Sadly, like the Nicaraguan Vulcans, Colombia was once again not invited by Major League Baseball to participate in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

That was a shame because Colombia has many additional talented ballplayers in the U.S. minor leagues and elsewhere that deserve the right to show their talent on this international stage. Colombia will be a participant in the 2012 World Baseball Classic qualifying round for the 2013 event, competing with other countries for four coveted spots. Until then, you can learn all about Colombia's rich baseball history in World in a Ballpark: Baseball Goes Global, which is available for purchase at the Buy Joe's Guides page. Also, enjoy this small collage of Colombia baseball. If you want to view a sample of the guide and see how easy the guide is to use, visit the World Baseball Classic page.