Eliseo Rodríguez Delgado (born May 24, 1946) is a Puerto Rican former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 1968 to 1976 for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, California Angels, and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Career

His professional baseball career began in 1964 when he was signed by the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

as an amateur free agent after graduating from James Monroe High School in Bronx, NY. He spent the 1964 in the rookie and A-class Minor league baseball teams of the Athletics. at the end of the season, on November 30, 1964, he was drafted by the New York Yankees from the Athletics in the 1964 first-year player draft. Rodríguez spent the next few years moving up the Yankees farm system, eventually making it to the AAA-level

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

in 1967. A year later, Rodríguez made his major league debut for the Yankees. Rodríguez debuted for the Yankees on May 26, 1968, against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. He played nine games over the course of the season while also spending time in Syracuse as well. On October 15, 1968, Rodríguez was drafted by the Kansas City Royals from the New York Yankees as the 13th pick in the

1968 MLB expansion draft The 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft was conducted to stock up the rosters of four expansion teams in Major League Baseball created via the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion and which would begin play in the 1969 season. The expans ...

. In his first season with the expansion Royals, he made his first all-star appearance, though he did not play in the game. He finished the season with a batting average of .236 in 95 games. The following season he split time at catcher with Ed Kirkpatrick. On February 2, 1971, after the end of the 1970 Kansas City Royals season , the Royals traded Rodríguez to the Milwaukee Brewers for Carl Taylor. He regained his starting role as the 1971 Milwaukee Brewers season began. Rodríguez played 115 games in 1971, yet only had a batting average of .210. He played 116 games the following season en route to his second all-star game, which he also did not play in. He finished the season with a career high batting average of .285 and over 100 hits. After splitting time at catcher with

Darrell Porter Darrell Ray Porter (January 17, 1952 – August 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1971 to 1987 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, and Texas Range ...

the following season, Rodríguez was involved in a nine-player transaction when he was sent along with Ollie Brown,

Joe Lahoud Joseph Michael Lahoud (born April 14, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or part of eleven seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as an outfielder and designated hitter, for the Boston Red Sox (1968–71) ...

Skip Lockwood Claude Edward (Skip) Lockwood Jr. (born August 17, 1946) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers (1969–1973), California Angels (1974), New York Mets (1975–1979) and Boston Re ...

and

Gary Ryerson Gary Lawrence Ryerson (born June 17, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Ryerson was drafted in the thirteenth round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants. In 1971, Ryerson was traded along wit ...

from the Brewers to the California Angels for Steve Barber,

Clyde Wright Clyde Wright (born February 20, 1941), nicknamed "Skeeter", is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the California Angels (1966–73), Milwauk ...

Ken Berry Kenneth Ronald Berry (November 3, 1933 – December 1, 2018) was an American actor, dancer, and singer. Berry starred on the television series ''F Troop'', ''The Andy Griffith Show'', '' Mayberry R.F.D.'' and ''Mama's Family''. He also appe ...

Art Kusnyer Arthur William Kusnyer (born December 19, 1945) is an American former catcher in Major League Baseball who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 37th round of the 1966 amateur draft. He played for the Chicago White Sox, White Sox (1970), L ...

and cash on October 23, 1973. Rodríguez ended up having a breakout year in 1974. He had a fielding percentage of .992, played a career high 140 games, and hit a career high seven

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s. During the 1974 California Angels season, Rodríguez tied an

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

record with 19 putouts in a nine-inning game and set another with 21 in an extra-inning game. The following season, he played 90 games as catcher, and caught

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...

's fourth no-hitter. On March 31, 1976, he was traded by the California Angels to the Los Angeles Dodgers for

Orlando Alvarez Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures relea ...

and cash, and spent one season with the Dodgers before being released on May 2, 1977. Rodríguez is now a player development consultant for The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and is in charge of scouting Latin America for the league. He was later announced as manager for the 2018

Road Warriors The Road Warriors, also known as the Legion of Doom, were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Road Warrior Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) and Road Warrior Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis).. They performed under the name "The Road Warriors" in t ...

, a traveling team that will temporarily replace the folded

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

in the Atlantic League.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Ellie 1946 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players American League All-Stars Binghamton Triplets players Cafeteros de Córdoba players California Angels players Columbus Clippers players Columbus Confederate Yankees players Daytona Beach Islanders players Greensboro Yankees players Kansas City Royals players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Milwaukee Brewers players Mexican League baseball managers New York Yankees players People from Fajardo, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Mexico Saraperos de Saltillo players Syracuse Chiefs players Wytheville A's players

Career

See also

References

External links