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, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

who played in

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 ...

from 1916 to 1918 and in the

Cuban League The Cuban League ( Spanish: ''Liga cubana'') 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 ...

from 1914 to 1939. In the majors, he played for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

and was primarily a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

, while in the Cuban League and the U.S.

minor league 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 ...

s he mostly played

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. A defensive specialist, according to Roberto González Echevarría, 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 organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

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.

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 (baseball), manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants. He was also the ...

expected him "to develop into a star first baseman." After spring training he was assigned to the

New London Planters The New London Planters were a minor league baseball team based in New London, Connecticut, that entered the now defunct Connecticut League in 1913, which had recently renamed itself the Eastern Association (baseball), Eastern Association with the ...

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 (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

in the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, 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 bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s. 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 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 Providence Rubes, and the Pittsfield Hillies. 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 , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, 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 i ...

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 ( ...

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 (1916), Eastern League from ...

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 (baseball), 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 (19 ...

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) was a Cuban professional baseball outfielder and pitcher in the Negro leagues and the Cuban League with multiple teams. He played from 1912 to 1932 and was primarily a pull hitter, t ...

, Adolfo Luque,

José Méndez José de la Caridad Méndez Báez (March 19,1887– October 31, 1928) was a Cuban professional baseball right-handed pitcher, shortstop, third baseman and manager in the Negro leagues. Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, he died at age 43 in Havan ...

, Ramón Herrera, and Rafael Almeida, 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 (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

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. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

stars, including five future members of the U.S.

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

— Bullet Rogan,

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

, John Henry ("Pop") Lloyd,

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

, and

Oscar Charleston Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder, first baseman and manager in Negro league baseball and the Cuban League. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more th ...

—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.

Personal life and death

Rodríguez was born in

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.Oscar Rodríguez, 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. Rodríguez was a coach on the

Venezuela national baseball team The Venezuela national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Venezuela'' or ''Selección de Venezuela)'' is the national team of Venezuela. It is currently ranked third in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, b ...

under Manuel "Pollo" Malpica that played at the

1941 Amateur World Series The 1941 Amateur World Series was the fourth edition of the Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation. The tournament took place, for the third consecutive t ...

in Havana. He died in 1953 at the age of 58.

Notes

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Jose New York Giants (baseball) players Major League Baseball second basemen Minor league baseball managers Major League Baseball players from Cuba 20th-century Cuban sportsmen 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