Rodney Paul Craig (January 12, 1958 – August 17, 2013) was a

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), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

who played for four seasons. Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, he played for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

from to ,

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in , and

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 p ...

in . Craig was stabbed to death at a homeless encampment in Los Angeles.Rodney Paul Craig, 56 – The Homicide Report
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved on August 10, 2016.

Early life

Craig was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the area. He attended

Narbonne High School Nathaniel Narbonne High School (NHS) is a school located at 24300 South Western Avenue, in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles, California. Narbonne serves grades 9 through 12 and is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Narbonne serve ...

. His teammates said that he was a talented

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

, but he quit the football team at Narbonne because he thought that racism was limiting his playing time. He focused on baseball, which he played at

San Jacinto College San Jacinto College is a public community college in the Greater Houston with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Channelview, De ...

in Texas.

Career

He was signed by the expansion Seattle Mariners organization in 1977. In 1979, he became the first prospect signed by that organization to make it to the major leagues. He played in 16 games for the Mariners that year, and he batted .385. He hit safely in 14 of those 16 games. In 1980, Craig began the season as a starting outfielder. "Seattle is handing Rodney Craig the right-field job if his tempestuous attitude doesn't ruin him," wrote

Peter Gammons Peter Gammons (born April 9, 1945) is an American sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted ...

that January. After his playing time was limited to 70 games by injuries that season, Craig was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Wayne Cage in March 1981. Craig did not play in the major leagues in 1981, and he appeared in only 49 Indians games in 1982. Craig spent several more years in the minor leagues, and he last appeared in the major league for ten games with the Chicago White Sox in 1986. He then played in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

, and he appeared in a few games for the

Salinas Spurs Several minor league baseball teams have been based in Salinas, California and played in the California League. Salinas Spurs The Salinas Spurs were a California League team that played from 1982 to 1987 and again from 1989 to 1992. Located ...

of the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

in 1990.

Later life

After leaving baseball, Craig struggled with

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

and became

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

. After a 2004 fight in which he struck a homeless person with a rock, he was sent to a state psychiatric hospital. On August 17, 2013, Craig got into a fight with two men at an encampment for homeless people in Los Angeles. One of the two men, Billy Morales, had a knife and fatally stabbed Craig. Morales was convicted of second-degree murder on January 15, 2015 and sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for Craig's murder on March 23, 2015.

References

External links

, o
RetrosheetPura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Rod 1958 births 2013 deaths 2013 murders in the United States African-American baseball players Baseball players from Los Angeles Bellingham Mariners players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Charlies players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Deaths by stabbing in California Maine Guides players Major League Baseball outfielders Murdered African-American people Male murder victims Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela People murdered in Los Angeles Rochester Red Wings players Salinas Spurs players San Jose Missions players Seattle Mariners players Spokane Indians players Stockton Mariners players Deaths from bleeding Tidewater Tides players San Jacinto College alumni 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople Homeless people Narbonne High School alumni