1976 Topps #512 - Ellie Rodriguez

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• Ellie Rodriguez was a catcher in the majors from 1968-1976. Rodriguez was signed by the Kansas City A's in 1963. Ellie played in the minors in the A's system in 1963 and then was drafted by the New York Yankees in the first year player draft. Rodriguez then played in the Yankees' system from 1964-1968. Ellie played for the Yankees for a short time during the 1968 season and batted .208 in nine games. After the 1968 season Rodriguez was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the expansion draft.
• Rodriguez was selected as the Royals' representative for the 1969 All Star Game (he didn't play in the game). Ellie split time with Buck Martinez behind the plate in 1969 and batted .236 in 95 games. Ellie backed up Ed Kirkpatrick in 1970 and batted .225 in 80 games. Ellie was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Carl Taylor after the 1970 season.
• Ellie became the starting catcher for the Brewers in 1971. He batted .210 in 115 games in 1971 and .285 in 116 games in 1972. Rodriguez made the AL All Star team in 1972 but didn't get in the game. In 1973 Ellie had  competition from 21-year-old Darrell Porter and lost some playing time. He batted .269 in 94 games in 1973. After the 1973 season Rodriguez was sent to the California Angels in a multi-player trade.
• Rodriguez was the Angels' starting catcher in 1974 and had a career high with seven home runs. Ellie batted .253 in 140 games in 1974. Rodriguez missed most of May 1975 with an injury and didn't play as much after the injury. He batted .235 in 90 games in 1975 and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Orlando Alvarez and cash after the season.
• Ellie didn't play very much for the Dodgers in 1976. He batted .212 in 36 games in 1976. Rodriguez didn't get into any games for the Dodgers in 1977 and was released in early May. Rodriguez hooked on with Pittsburgh's AAA Colulmbus team later in 1977 but batted .224 and retired after the season.
• Rodriguez is now a player development consultant for The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and  is in charge of scouting in Latin America for the league.