Ellie Rodriguez obit

Former Yankees, Dodgers Catcher Dies at 79

A two-time American League All-Star in nine MLB seasons who caught a Nolan Ryan no-hitter passed away.

 He was not on the list.

Catcher Ellie Rodriguez, who graduated from high school in The Bronx in 1964 and made his major league debut with the New York Yankees four years later, died April 23. He was 79.

Rodriguez played nine seasons in MLB with the Yankees (1968), Kansas City Royals (1969-70), Milwaukee Brewers (1971-73), California Angels (1974-75) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1976). A two-time All-Star, Rodriguez retired with a .245 batting average, 16 home runs and 203 RBIs in 775 big league games.

On June 1, 1975, Rodriguez was behind the plate for the fourth no-hitter of Nolan Ryan's career, a 1-0 Angels win over the Baltimore Orioles.

"''He had a tough, tough time warming up," Rodriguez recalled in a 1991 interview. "When he started, he was throwing around 86 miles an hour. But he had a good change and a good curve going. Then in the fifth inning, his fastball started popping. He shook me off just a few times in that game.

"Once was on the last pitch of the game, with the count 2-2 on Bobby Grich. I called for a fastball, but he called me out to the mound to tell me he wanted the changeup, and we caught Grich looking. I had the ball, and I told Nolan, 'I've got the ball, and I'm not going to give it to you.' But I did."

Rodriguez was primarily a backup catcher in MLB, but he managed to make two American League All-Star Game rosters: in 1969 with the Royals and in 1972 with the Brewers, when he set career highs in batting average (.285) and on-base percentage (.382).

Rodriguez was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico on May 24, 1946. His family moved to New York City in 1953, growing up within walking distance of Yankee Stadium. His boyhood idol was Yankee's catcher Yogi Berra. He was an amateur boxer as a teenager. Rodriguez attended James Monroe High School in the Bronx, New York, graduating in 1964.

Rodriguez never hit more than seven home runs in a single season, which he did with the Angels in 1974, but he walked more often than he struck out in six of his nine seasons.

Rodriguez played his final big league game on the final day of the 1976 season for rookie Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. He spent the 1977 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates' Triple-A affiliate — and caught another no-hitter for the Columbus Clippers.

After playing a few more seasons in Mexico, Rodriguez transitioned to scouting. He also coached youth baseball in his native Puerto Rico, worked as a Player Development Consultant for the independent Atlantic League, and managed professional teams in Puerto Rico and Mexico.

His professional baseball career began in 1964 when he was signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent after graduating from James Monroe High School. He spent the 1964 season in the rookie and Single-A Minor league baseball teams of the Athletics, playing catcher. At the end of the season, on November 30, 1964, he was drafted by the New York Yankees from the Athletics in the 1964 first-year player draft. Rodríguez spent the next few years moving up the Yankees farm system, eventually making it to the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs in 1967. In 1966, he was named to the Southern League All-Star Team with the Double-A Columbus (Georgia) Confederate Yankees. In 1968, Rodríguez made his major league debut for the Yankees.

Rodríguez debuted for the Yankees on May 26, 1968, against the Chicago White Sox, starting at catcher. He played nine games over the course of the season while also spending time in Syracuse as well, where he had a .291 batting average.[5] On October 15, 1968, Rodríguez was drafted by the Kansas City Royals from the New York Yankees as the 13th pick in the 1968 MLB expansion draft. In his first season with the expansion Royals (1969), he made his first All-Star appearance, though he did not play in the game. He finished the season with a batting average of .236 in 95 games. The following season he split time at catcher with Ed Kirkpatrick.

On February 2, 1971, after the end of the 1970 Kansas City Royals season, the Royals traded Rodríguez to the Milwaukee Brewers for Carl Taylor. He regained his starting role as the 1971 Milwaukee Brewers season began. Rodríguez played 115 games in 1971, yet only had a batting average of .210. He played 116 games the following season en route to his second All-Star game, which he also did not play in. He finished the season with a career-high batting average of .285 and over 100 hits.

After splitting time at catcher with Darrell Porter the following season, Rodríguez was involved in a nine-player transaction when he was sent along with Ollie Brown, Joe Lahoud, Skip Lockwood and Gary Ryerson from the Brewers to the California Angels for Steve Barber, Clyde Wright, Ken Berry, Art Kusnyer and cash on October 23, 1973. Rodríguez ended up having a breakout year in 1974. He had a fielding percentage of .992 (second best in the AL), played a career-high 140 games, and hit a career-high seven home runs.