Ricardo Antonio Rodríguez (born May 21, 1978) is a Dominican 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. 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) and the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

(KBO) during his career.

Career

In a four-season career, Rodríguez has posted a 10-15 record with 104

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and a 5.18

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

, including one

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

and a

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. Rodríguez was invited by the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

as a

non-roster invitee A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in , but did not make the team, instead playing for their Triple-A affiliate, the

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an el ...

, and Pittsburgh's Triple-A affiliate, the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

. On June 17, , Rodríguez signed with the Edmonton Cracker Cats of the

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the orga ...

. On January 21, , Rodríguez signed with

Kia Tigers Kia Tigers ( ko, KIA 타이거즈) are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are a members of the KBO League and are ...

of the

, but on March 19 he was released from Kia because of an elbow injury. He was featured in the 2004 PBS documentary

The New Americans ''The New Americans'' is a seven-hour American documentary, produced by Kartemquin Films, which was originally broadcast on American television over three nights on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in late March 2004. Description The obser ...

as he left the Dominican Republic in hopes of playing baseball in the United States.

External links

1978 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cleveland Indians players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in South Korea Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Republic sportspeople in doping cases Edmonton Cracker-Cats players Great Falls Dodgers players Indianapolis Indians players Jacksonville Suns players KBO League pitchers Kia Tigers players Las Vegas 51s players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Memphis Redbirds players Mexican League baseball pitchers Oklahoma RedHawks players People from Monte Cristi Province Richmond Braves players Saraperos de Saltillo players Sinon Bulls players Texas Rangers players Vero Beach Dodgers players Azucareros del Este players Leones del Escogido players Tigres del Licey players Estrellas Orientales players {{DominicanRepublic-baseball-pitcher-stub