ESPN filming feature story on Yuma Scorpions

The Yuma Scorpions are receiving plenty of attention as the club makes its rounds through Golden Baseball League stadiums.

The focus has been more on the Colombian players who landed in Yuma on the eve of the season opener rather than the team's play.

And now the foreign faces are about to get even more attention. The GBL's groundbreaking affiliation with the Colombian Professional Baseball League is part of an ESPN feature story.

"I think it is a pretty big deal," GBL Commissioner Kevin Outcalt. "I think it is going to be a great piece and is going to highlight Yuma at an international level because I think this is going to play in the Latin countries as well."

Every player on the Scorpions is from Colombia or has ties to the CPBL. The two-year deal with an opt-out clause after the first year that seemingly came out of nowhere was announced May 19.

The players who were to take the field as Scorpions before the arrangement was made were released or allocated to other teams.

The sports network will be gathering interviews with fans and Scorpions personnel and game footage during the Scorpions' (9-21) upcoming homestand with the North Division leading Calgary Vipers (20-11) at Desert Sun Stadium.

The action begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday and concludes with a doubleheader at 5 p.m. on Sunday. A fireworks show will take place at the conclusion of Saturday's game. Sunday's promo is "Messin' with the Recession" - tickets, hotdogs and sodas are all two for the price of one.

"They have interviewed Edinson and Edgar (Renteria) on the Colombian side and now they want to come in and talk to Mike (Marshall - Scorpions team president), interview some players and get a lot of footage from both of the games," Outcalt said.

Marshall and the Scorpions staff worked late Tuesday preparing for the weekend series and the visit. He was told the piece may air in August.

"It's been a team effort and I'm glad the network is coming to Yuma to see us, that is exciting," Marshall said. "It is a pretty big story and to have Yuma part of it we are happy."

ESPN contacted the GBL last week. The feature is expected to center on the Renteria brothers, Edgar and Edinson, and their desire to grow baseball in their homeland.

"It could be an untapped source for future talent," Outcalt said. "The Renterias have recognized that and are doing all kinds of things with the most notable one being starting to send their best prospects over here in the summer to play. So that is kind of the story they (ESPN) are developing.

A portion of the story will include "Yuma - fish out of water stuff," Outcalt said. For many of the players this is their first trip out of Colombia.

"How quickly do they get acclimated? The differences in the culture. The differences in the baseball," Outcalt said.

The Scorpions are owners of the worst record in the league but have shown signs of possibly making a push for the playoffs when the records are reset to start the second half. Yuma has won three of its last four series.

"I think it took a little while for the players that showed up to be ready to play because their season had ended quite a while earlier," Outcalt said. "I think they have been a little surprised by the level of play in the league as well."

Edgar Renteria, 33, is the starting shortstop for the San Francisco Giants. He is one of seven from the Colombia that boasts a population of more than 45 million to play at Major League Baseball's highest level. Four others reached Triple-A.

The brothers own and run the CPBL, also know as the Colombian Winter League, as well as the Team Renteria Baseball Academy. The four-team league runs for three months during MLB's offseason. Edinson Renteria has been in charge of the league since 1999.

Despite the rough start on the diamond for the Scorpions, Outcalt is happy with the arrangement. Others - Japan, Korea and Cuba - have expressed an interest in sending players or teams to the GBL.

"Overall it has been going well," Outcalt said. "I'd anticipate that we would want to continue to do this unless something unforeseen occurs.

"It has opened doors. We may not do anything like this any place again or we might do it in a lot of places but at least it's opened that opportunity to pursue some opportunities that would not have been there otherwise," Outcalt said.

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Brian Williams can be reached at
bwilliams@yumasun.com or 539-6880.