Fernando Pedro "Freddy" Rodríguez Borrego (April 29, 1924 – June 11, 2009) was a Cuban-born professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who briefly played for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(1958) and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

(1959) of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. A native of

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

. Rodríguez' professional career extended for 18 seasons, 1945 through 1962, but he would appear in only eight major league games during those brief, late-1950s trials, when he was already in his mid-30s. Apart from the wartime 1945 campaign, his first 11 seasons in Organized Baseball all were spent in the lowest levels of the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

of the day: Classes B, C and D. Finally, in 1956, he rose to the Double-A and Triple-A levels. In 1958, he was acquired by the Cubs and appeared in seven early-season games as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

. He was credited with a save in his April 18 debut, hurling 1

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). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

of one- hit, scoreless ball against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

. He earned a second save nine days later when he preserved a 5–4 Cubs' triumph against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

at Seals Stadium. At that point, Rodríguez'

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

was a respectable 3.18, but he was hit hard in his next three outings, and by the time he was demoted to the minors after May 18, his ERA was a poor 7.36 in 7 innings pitched. Obtained by the Phillies during the 1958–1959 offseason, he received only a one-game audition in June, when he allowed three

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s in two innings pitched in middle relief against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

Crosley Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) a ...

on May 27. He then returned to the minor leagues for the next 3 seasons. In his eight MLB games, Rodríguez allowed 12 hits (including three

home runs 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 ...

) and five

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

in his career 9 innings pitched, with six

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. Along with his two career saves, he compiled an ERA of 8.68. Fernando "Freddy" Rodríguez died in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, on June 11, 2009.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Freddy 1924 births 2009 deaths Abilene Blue Sox players Big Spring Broncs players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago Cubs players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada Dallas Eagles players Diablos Rojos del México players Greenville Spinners players Havana Cubans players Kingsport Cherokees players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Cuba 20th-century Cuban sportsmen Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Midland Indians players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Montreal Royals players Pensacola Fliers players Portland Beavers players Sherman–Denison Twins players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Baseball players from Havana Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo players Williamsport Grays players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Mexico