Remembering Ellie Rodriguez

Rodriguez best days as a Royal came during an early June series at Yankee Stadium.  Playing against his former teammates and in front of a large contingent of family and friends, Rodriguez went 5 for 13 with a three-run home run in the series opener, helping the young Royals win two of three.  He also threw out two would be base stealers.

With Kirkpatrick and Buck Martinez emerging as their primary catchers, the Royals traded Rodriguez to the Milwaukee Brewers after the 1970 season.   While in Milwaukee, he developed a friendship with and helped mentor another young catcher named Darrell Porter.  He spent three productive seasons in Milwaukee, often battling injuries.  He made his second All-Star team in 1972 but again didn’t see any playing time in the game.

With Porter ready to assume the catching duties, Milwaukee sent Rodriguez to the California Angels, where he spent two seasons and became Nolan Ryans favorite catcher.  Rodriguez caught Ryan’s 4th career no-hitter and had arguably his best season as a player in 1974 when he appeared in a career high 140 games, hitting .253 with career highs in home runs and RBIs.  He later appeared in 36 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1976.

He spent the entire 1977 season with the Pirates AAA affiliate in Columbus before closing his career with four seasons in the Mexican League.

Rodriguez will be remembered for two things in particular.  The first was his long running dispute with Bill “Spaceman” Lee, a feud which ended in fisticuffs on two different occasions.  The duo first fought in a Puerto Rican winter league game in 1970, in which Lee lost four teeth, and more famously in a May 1973 game at Fenway Park.

The second was the fact that Rodriguez was an excellent defensive catcher.  He had terrific footwork behind the plate, often attributed to his time as a boxer.    He was one of the first catchers I recall that caught with his body at a slight angle, his left shoulder closer to the pitcher, so he could use that leverage on his throws.  He was also one of the first I remember seeing that held his right hand behind his body when catching to protect his throwing hand from foul tips.

After his time in the majors ended, Rodriguez stayed in baseball.  He did some coaching in the Mexican Leagues and held various jobs in the sport up until 2018.

He passed away April 23rd at the age of 79.  All of us at Royals Review extend our condolences to the Rodriguez family.