José Rodríguez (February 23, 1894 – January 21, 1953), nicknamed "Joseíto" or "El Hombre Goma" in Spanish and "Joe" in English, was a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n infielder who 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), ...

from 1916 to 1918 and in the

Cuban League The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the league was sometimes known a ...

from 1914 to 1939. In the majors, he played for the New York Giants and was primarily a second baseman, while in the Cuban League and the U.S. minor leagues he mostly played first base. A defensive specialist, according to

Roberto González Echevarría Roberto González Echevarría (born 1943) is a Cuban-born critic of Latin American literature and culture. He is the Sterling Professor of Hispanic and Comparative Literature at Yale University. Early life, education, and career González Ech ...

, Rodríguez "was considered the best defensive first baseman in Cuba" of his time. He was also a long-time

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

in the Cuban League and managed for one season in the minors. He was inducted into the

Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame The Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame (''Salón de la Fama del Béisbol Cubano'') is a hall of fame that honors eminent baseball players from Cuban baseball. Established in 1939 to honor players, managers, and umpires in the pre-revolution Cuban League ...

in 1951. Rodríguez was born in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

in 1894. His younger brother Oscar also became a baseball player and manager in the Cuban League and the minor leagues and joined José as a member of the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1960.

Baseball career

United States

José Rodríguez toured the United States with a Cuban team, the Habana Reds, in 1915 and was recruited by the New York Giants. He joined the Giants in spring training in 1916. News reports from spring training suggested that Rodriguez "may develop into a high class player like Palmero, the young Cuban pitcher," and that manager

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

expected him "to develop into a star first baseman." After spring training he was assigned to the New London Planters in the Eastern League, where he hit .263. Rodríguez debuted with the Giants on October 5, 1916, when he appeared as a pinch runner. In 1917 he was assigned to the

Rochester Hustlers The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field, located in down ...

in the International League, where he hit .252. When he was again called up by the Giants, he played in seven major league games and hit .200 in 20 at bats. After spring training in 1918, Rodríguez was retained by the Giants as their utility infielder. He hit poorly, and after Larry Doyle, the regular second baseman, had surgery in May, the Giants acquired other infielders such as

Bert Niehoff John Albert Niehoff (May 13, 1884 – September 8, 1974) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball who played for four clubs from the 1913 to 1918 seasons. He batted and threw right-handed. Playing career A native of Louisville, Colorado, N ...

and Ed Sicking. Rodríguez ended the season with a .160 batting average in 40 games. After the season, he was traded to Rochester, ending his major league career. Rodríguez played the next two seasons as Rochester's first baseman, hitting .264 and .320. When the Rochester team was sold after the 1920 season, the new owners,

George Stallings George Tweedy Stallings (November 17, 1867 – May 13, 1929) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and Philadelphia Phillies in 1890 and 1897 to 1898 and mana ...

and Walter Hapgood, sold most their players; Rodríguez was sold to the Bridgeport Americans of the Eastern League. He played in the Eastern League from 1921 to 1930, playing for Bridgeport, the

Worcester Panthers The Worcester Panthers were an Eastern League baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They existed from 1923 to 1925. History The Worcester Panthers were succeeded by the 1933 Worcester Chiefs of the New England League and the Worcester R ...

, the

Providence Rubes The Providence Rubes were an Eastern League baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island. Their manager was Rube Marquard, after whom the team was presumably named. They were the league champions in 1926, their only year of existence. They were ...

, and the

Pittsfield Hillies The Pittsfield Hillies were an Eastern League (baseball, 1916-32), Eastern League (Class A) baseball team from 1919 to 1930. They were League Champions in 1919 and 1921. Their home field was at Wahconah Park, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. 1905 The P ...

. He hit as high as .316, and his overall minor league average was .284. He played for the Canton Terriers of the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

and the

Binghamton Triplets The Binghamton Triplets were a minor league baseball team based in Binghamton, New York between 1923 and 1963. The franchise played as members of the New York–Penn League (1923–1937), Eastern League (1938–1963), New York–Penn League (19 ...

of the New York–Pennsylvania League in 1930 and 1931, before returning to the Eastern League where he ended his U.S. career with the Allentown Buffaloes and

Norfolk Tars The Norfolk Tars were a minor league baseball team that existed on and off from 1906 to 1955. Based in Norfolk, Virginia, they played in the Virginia League from 1906 to 1918 and from 1921 to 1928, in the Eastern League from 1931 to 1932 and in the ...

in 1931 and 1932. Rodríguez returned to minor league baseball for one season in 1948 as the manager of the Sherman-Denison Twins in the

Big State League The Big State League was a mid-level, Class B level circuit in American minor league baseball that played for 11 seasons, from 1947 through 1957. Its member clubs were exclusively based in Texas. The Corpus Christi Clippers (1955-1956), Texark ...

Cuba

Rodríguez began his professional career in the winter of 1914/15 as the first baseman of the Fe club of the

. The following winter he moved to Almendares. The team, which included

Cristóbal Torriente Cristóbal Torriente (November 16, 1893 – April 11, 1938) called Babe Ruth of Cuba , was a Cuban outfielder in Negro league baseball with multiple teams. He played from 1912 to 1932 and was primarily a pull hitter, though he could hit with pow ...

Adolfo Luque Adolfo Domingo De Guzmán "Dolf" Luque (August 4, 1890 – July 3, 1957) was a Cubans, Cuban starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to . Luque was enshrined in the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957 and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of ...

José Méndez José Colmenar del Valle Méndez (January 2, 1885 – October 31, 1928) was a Cuban right-handed pitcher and manager in baseball's Negro leagues. Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, he died at age 43 in Havana. Known in Cuba as ''El Diamante Negro'' ...

, Ramón Herrera, and

Rafael Almeida Rafael D. Almeida (July 30, 1887 – March 19, 1968) was a Major League Baseball third baseman from 1911 to 1913 with the Cincinnati Reds. Almeida and Armando Marsans debuted together with the Reds on July 4, 1911. They are sometimes named the ...

, won the championship, with Rodríguez hitting .286. He again played for a championship team, the Orientals, in the winter of 1917, but hit only .194. The league didn't play in the winter of 1917/18, but in 1918/19 he again played for Almendares and hit .312. In 1919/20 he moved to

Habana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, where he played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

and hit .278. In 1920/21, still with Habana, he played

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and was part of another championship, hitting .226. The next winter, the Cuban League season terminated after only five games; Rodríguez had returned to first base and hit .368. The following winter, 1922/23, his role shifted as he became the playing manager of Almendares. In his third season as manager, 1924/25, he won the league championship with a team powered by

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

stars, including five future members of the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame—

Bullet Rogan Wilber Joe Rogan, also known as "Bullet Joe" (July 28, 1893 – March 4, 1967), was an American pitcher, outfielder, and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro baseball leagues from 1920 to 1938. Renowned as a two-way player who cou ...

Andy Cooper Andrew Lewis Cooper (April 24, 1898 – June 3, 1941), nicknamed "Lefty", was an American left-handed pitcher in baseball's Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. An alumnus of Paul Quinn College, Cooper played nin ...

, John Henry ("Pop") Lloyd,

Biz Mackey James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey (July 27, 1897 – September 22, 1965) was an American catcher and manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Indianapolis ABCs (1920–1922), New York Lincoln Giants (1920), Hilldale Daisies (1923–1931), P ...

, and

Oscar Charleston Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Home ...

—as well as Dick Lundy, Newt Allen, and Valentín Dreke, and major leaguers Adolfo Luque and José Acosta. He won his next championship as manager for Almendares in 1931/32, his last season as a full-time player and a season in which no American players were signed to play in the Cuban league. He continued to play part-time until 1938/39 and to manage for various teams until 1943/44. In 1950 he became the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the minor league

Havana Cubans The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class Triple-A (baseball), AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's 1960 Cinc ...

.Figueredo 2003, pp. 196–197, 227, 253, 334. Rodríguez died in 1953 at the age of 58.

Notes

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Jose New York Giants (NL) players Major League Baseball second basemen Minor league baseball managers Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States 1894 births 1953 deaths New London Planters players Rochester Hustlers players Bridgeport Americans players Bridgeport Bears (baseball) players Worcester Panthers players Providence Rubes players Providence Grays (minor league) players Pittsfield Hillies players Canton Terriers players Binghamton Triplets players Allentown Buffaloes players Norfolk Tars players Almendares (baseball) players Orientals players Club Fé players Habana players