Francisco Rodriguez (born December 11, 1972) is an American former 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 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 ...

Amateur career

Rodriguez won the

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died as the result of brain cancer on ...

in 1991. At the time of the award, Rodriguez was playing fo
Howard Junior College
in Big Spring, Texas. As the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy for college football, The Dick Howser Trophy is the annual national award for the outstanding collegiate baseball player. Since 1991, no other junior college baseball player has won the award. Rodriguez was an outstanding shortstop and pitcher for the Howard College Hawks and he led his team to the 1991 National Junior College World Series Championship held annually in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Professional career

Rodriguez was drafted as a shortstop by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in the second round of the 1990 amateur draft. An agreement was reached a few weeks into the 1991 season, after which he was assigned to the

Class A-Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (crea ...

Elmira Pioneers The Elmira Pioneers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Elmira, New York. They have been affiliated with many major league teams throughout their history. Currently, Elmira Pioneers play as members of the Perfect Game Collegiate Base ...

. When his new teammates greeted him at the

Elmira-Corning Regional Airport Elmira Corning Regional Airport is in Chemung County, New York, northwest of Elmira and east of Corning. It is in the Big Flats census-designated place and in the town of Big Flats, while its mailing address gives the location as Horsehead ...

, the

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

native was wearing clothes with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

logo. After Rodriguez advanced to Class A Lynchburg Red Sox, the Red Sox realized he had greater value as a pitcher, a position he quickly began playing. He made his major league debut for the Red Sox on Wednesday, April 26, 1995. Soon after, he was traded to the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

for closer

Rick Aguilera Richard Warren Aguilera (born December 31, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1985 to 2000. Aguilera won a world championship as a member of the ...

. He did not pitch well for the Twins, posting a 25–32 record with the team in over three years of service. The

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners 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 ...

claimed him off waivers in May 1999 where he then played for the Mariners through the end of the 2000 season. He next played for 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 ...

in 2001 then did not pitch in the majors again. He finished with an MLB career record of 29–39 and ERA of 5.53. In 2008, he returned to pro baseball playing for the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League where he pitched to a 2–1 record, with 7.79 ERA.

Coaching career

, Rodriguez is an assistant coach for the baseball team at

SUNY Maritime College State University of New York Maritime College (SUNY Maritime College) is a public maritime college in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Founded in 1874, the SUNY Maritime College was the fi ...

in the Bronx, New York. -

Mercy University Mercy University (Mercy NY), previously known as Mercy College, is a private research university with a main campus in Dobbs Ferry, New York, and additional locations in Manhattan and the The Bronx, Bronx. It is a federally designated minority- ...

, Pitching Coach.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Frank Major League Baseball pitchers Boston Red Sox players Minnesota Twins players Seattle Mariners players Cincinnati Reds players Tacoma Rainiers players 1972 births Living people Newark Bears players Eastern District High School alumni Baseball players from Brooklyn American expatriate baseball players in Australia Maritime Privateers baseball coaches Brisbane Bandits players Lynchburg Red Sox players New Britain Red Sox players Pawtucket Red Sox players Salt Lake Buzz players Louisville RiverBats players Elmira Pioneers players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Howard Hawks baseball players Mercy University faculty