Edgar Renteria

Lore & Background

Rentería was born in Barranquilla, Colombia, and attended Instituto Los Alpes High School there. He was signed by the Florida Marlins at age 16 by scout Levy Ochoa. He made his MLB debut in 1996 and finished second to Todd Hollandsworth in the 1996 Rookie of the Year Award balloting. In 1997, his RBI single off Charles Nagy in the eleventh inning of Game 7 of the World Series won the first World Series in Marlins' history. In the 2010 World Series, he won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award with the San Francisco Giants after hitting game-winning home runs in Game 2 and Game 5. He was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2025.

In Their Own Story

The sun is low over the ballpark, painting the warning track in amber. It is the bottom of the seventh, the count is 3-1, and the batter — a guy who has been tearing up the park all series — cracks a line drive through the hole between second and short. The crowd gasps as one. The ball is a flat, screaming white blur heading for the gap.

And then the glove is there. Not late. Not a stretch. Just *there*, as if Edgar Renteria had been standing in the exact spot the ball was going to land. He fields it on the drop, turns, and fires to first before the runner has even committed. The throw is a laser. The first baseman catches it in the pocket. Out. Renteria does not celebrate. He just jogs back to the bag, adjusts his cap, and looks at the batter with an expression that says, *'That was close, but it wasn't.'*

In the dugout, the young guys are on their feet, screaming. Renteria walks in, pats a couple of them on the back, and sits down. The next pitch is coming in thirty seconds. He laces up his glove again. There is more baseball to play.

Reader's Guide

Rentería played for the Florida Marlins from 1996 to 1998. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in December 1998. He later played for the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, and Cincinnati Reds. He was a two-time All-Star (1998, 2000) and won the National League Silver Slugger Award for a shortstop in 2000.

Did You Know?

• Rentería's first MLB hit was a single off Steve Trachsel on May 19, 1996.
• He had a 22-game hitting streak as a rookie in 1996, the longest for a rookie since Jerome Walton's 30-game streak in 1989.
• In 1997, he hit the first inside-the-park home run of his career on April 5 against the Cincinnati Reds.
• He led the Cardinals in games, at-bats, hits, doubles, and stolen bases in 1999.
• In 2000, he set a Cardinals record for most home runs by a shortstop (16).