Aurelio Rodríguez

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Aurelio Rodríguez, born Aurelio Rodríguez Ituarte, Jr. (December 28, 1947 – September 23, 2000), was a third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the California Angels (1967-70), Washington Senators (1970), Detroit Tigers (1971-79), San Diego Padres (1980), New York Yankees (1980-81), Chicago White Sox (1982, 1983) and Baltimore Orioles (1983). He also played with the Obregon Yaquis and Los Mochis Caneros of the Mexican Pacific League. He batted and threw right-handed.

A native of Cananea, Mexico, Rodríguez broke into the major leagues with the Angels in 1967, and was traded to Washington early in the 1970 season. Rodríguez went to Detroit with shortstop Ed Brinkman and pitchers Joe Coleman and Jim Hannan before the 1971 season in an eight-player trade that brought Denny McLain to the Senators along with Don Wert, Elliott Maddox, and Norm McRae.

Rodríguez was a model of consistency at third base for the Tigers during the 1970s. He proved not to be that good a hitter, but he had sure hands and was blessed with a strong, accurate arm. In 1975, he earned Gold Glove Award honors, becoming the first American League third baseman since 1959 to beat out Brooks Robinson. Rodríguez also led the league third basemen in fielding percentage in 1976 and 1978. Playing for the Yankees in the 1981 World Series, he hit .417 (5-for-12). His big-league career with seven teams ended in 1983.

Rodríguez was a .237 hitter with 124 home runs and 648 RBI in 2017 games. His most productive season came in 1970, when he posted career-highs in home runs (19), RBI (83), runs (70) and stolen bases (15).

Rodríguez played in the Mexican League as late as 1987 and coached in the minors for Cleveland. He returned to the Mexican League as a manager in 1995.

On September 23, 2000, Rodriguez was visiting Detroit from his home in Mexico. While walking with an unidentified woman on Detroit's southwest side at 2:00 in the afternoon, a car jumped the curb and ran over Rodriguez. The driver of the car had suffered a stroke. Rodriguez, who had to be pulled from under the car, was 52 at the time of his death. Rodriguez' funeral in Mexico was attended by thousands of people, including the president of that country.

He was very popular with Tiger fans and they refer to him as "the original A-Rod".

Trivia: The picture on Aurelio Rodriguez's 1969 Topps baseball card is actually a photo of Angels' batboy Leonard Garcia.[1]

• There have been three players in major league history named Aurelio, and all three were killed in car accidents between the ages of 44 and 53. See also Aurelio Lopez and Aurelio Monteagudo

[edit] Quote

• Sparky Anderson was Rodriguez's manager in 1979, the player's last year in Detroit. "He probably had as good a pair of hands on him as anybody, and a great arm -- the only two arms I've ever seen like that, Travis Fryman and him. This guy was a great third baseman", Anderson said. [2] WJR Broadcaster Paul Carey, who at that time was alternating with Hall Of Famer Ernie Harwell, used to refer to Rodriguez' arm as a Howitzer.(JRR)

[edit] See also

• Chicago White Sox all-time roster

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference