The Development of Baseball in Colombia —A Caribbean Anomaly?

In the aftermath of the Cuban-Spanish-American War, US influence rapidly increased throug-hout the Caribbean. Its quasi-control of the region sparked a virulent nationalism combining a mix of anti-Americanism along with adoption of aspects of American culture. Baseball, for example, proved to have irresistible appeal throughout the region. Eventually, the peoples of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Panama joined Cubans in their enthusiasm for the sport. Although the US never invaded Colombia, baseball spawned a following in its Caribbean region as well, but passion for the sport did not engulf the entire coun-try. The objective of this paper is two-fold: first, to trace the development of Colombian baseball before 1960, and second: to explain why Colombian players have failed to achieve the stature of their Caribbean counterparts in the 20th and 21st centuries.