Colombian Heritage on a Kachi Glove

Colombia is not the first country most fans associate with baseball, but the Caribbean coast — Cartagena, Barranquilla, the surrounding towns — has been producing big-league talent for decades. Kachi co-founder Julio Teherán is one of them.

The country in baseball

Baseball in Colombia is concentrated almost entirely along the Caribbean coast and runs through a winter professional league that has cycled through formats over the years. Cartagena, Barranquilla, and the surrounding region form the heartland of the Colombian game; the country's MLB pipeline is smaller relative to the DR or Venezuela, but it punches above its weight in pitching and middle infield. Colombia made its first World Baseball Classic appearance in 2017, qualifying by defeating Panama in the qualifier final in Panama City. Drawn into a brutal Group C at Marlins Park alongside the Dominican Republic, the United States, and Canada, Colombia took a 4–1 win over Canada and pushed the eventual champion United States to extra innings in pool play. Teherán started for Colombia in that tournament.

A moment that defined the country in MLB

October 26, 1997, Pro Player Stadium, Miami. Edgar Rentería, a 22-year-old shortstop from Barranquilla in his second full MLB season, lined a single up the middle off Cleveland's Charles Nagy with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eleventh inning of Game 7 of the World Series. The hit scored Craig Counsell from third and gave the Florida Marlins their first championship — the youngest expansion team ever to win the World Series at the time. Rentería went on to win another title and World Series MVP with the 2010 Giants.

Notable players

• Edgar Rentería — five-time All-Star shortstop; his walk-off single in Game 7 won the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins, and he was the 2010 World Series MVP for the San Francisco Giants. Born in Barranquilla.
• Orlando Cabrera — Gold Glove shortstop, 2004 World Series champion with the Red Sox, two-time All-Star.
• José Quintana — All-Star left-handed starter, longtime AL and NL rotation arm; 2017 NL All-Star.
• Julio Teherán — Cartagena native, two-time MLB All-Star, six consecutive Opening Day starts for the Atlanta Braves (a streak that tied Warren Spahn's franchise mark), and Kachi co-founder.
• Giovanny Urshela — third baseman, longtime AL infielder with the Yankees and Twins.
• Donovan Solano — multi-time NL utility infielder, 2020 NL Silver Slugger at second base.

The Kachi flag option

Colombia is personal here. Teherán was born in Cartagena and grew up in the same coastal baseball culture that produced Rentería; the Colombian flag option exists on the configurator because one of Kachi's two co-founders wears it. The yellow, blue, and red goes on the wrist strap or pinky of your custom glove, free with every build, in colors matched to the flag rather than approximated. Pick your placement at the configurator and Teherán's country goes on with the rest of the spec.