An American Baseball Perspective exclusive by William Tell

Friday, August 7, 2009

Part 2: A rift divides the Rodriguez family as the PEBA comes about

(Ed.note: Part 1 can be read here; Part 3 can be read here.)

Unrest began to brew within the Rodriguez family when Lt. Col. John Rodriguez, Jr. retired from the US Army in 1996 after a 33-year career.  Despite no formal education beyond high school – where he was something less than a standout – John, Jr.’s time in the military had made him a keen judge of character and he soon made a series of wise investments that built him a fortune in very little time.  Known as JJ in the investment world – where he first met the public eye – John, Jr. managed to ride out the dot-com bust by transferring his holdings into real estate.  He got out of the real estate market just in time and is now following Warren Buffet’s advice to be “fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful”, buying up large portions of stock in stable American companies.

The publicity his brother got for his amazing insight in the investment market quickly turned Christopher’s pride in John, Jr. to envy and finally bitterness.  Though he grants no interviews and prefers to communicate through self-aggrandizing press releases, sources close to Christopher report his rants regarding his brother’s “shoddy research”, giving credit for the fortune JJ has amassed only to “blind luck and guesswork” rather than any skill or acumen.  “The boy (Christopher) works hard, and he has been my right arm for years,” says John, Sr.  “Just because he’s not on the cover of Forbes doesn’t mean I’m not just as proud of him.  Sometimes he wants the accolades, though.”

And indeed, Christopher could be said to deserve public recognition for his work behind the scenes in his father’s company.  When Rodriguez Fitness expanded to the Pacific Rim in 2001, Christopher was there.  Later, when RF began opening locations on military bases as part of an initiative to reach out to enlisted men and women, it was Christopher who spearheaded the plans and brought them to fruition.  Sadly, this only brought further disharmony to the family, as John, Jr.’s military connections were played up by the media even while he tried to share the spotlight with his recalcitrant brother.  “Chris’s pride really got in the way there; he felt like he should be getting the headlines too,” says John, Jr.  “I don’t write the newspapers, but I think he still holds that time against me.”

When the PEBA came calling for the financial backing of Rodriguez Fitness and its wholly owned subsidiaries for one of the league’s franchises, Christopher jumped at the chance for the family to claim a more prestigious ownership than that of the 1970s Cleveland Indians.  He, his father and his brother John, Jr. all agreed that Evanston, Illinois would be the perfect location for the franchise, owing to its geographic centricity (remember, the American public was still very much incensed at the traditional coastal powers who had ruined the MLB) and the fact that it housed the corporate offices of the family business.

Before the Evanston Invaders could officially get their feet off the ground as a franchise, scandal threatened to sink the PEBA before it even got off the ground.  “The would-be commissioner bailed on us, just like that; something about money laundering charges,” says John, Sr., his agitation palpable as he leans forward on his cane.  “I really just wanted to be an owner, but I saw that the league wasn’t going to happen unless someone stepped in.  I don’t think I’m any better a choice than any of the other guys, but things just seemed to work out that way.”

It was during this delay that one of JJ’s investment partners came to Evanston to visit the Rodriguez family.  This partner happened to be a young lady named Penny Flame, and she and John, Sr. soon began spending hours on end together, locked in conversation.  The pair quickly fell into sincere and reciprocal love.  Owing to this love, the two were soon married and moved to Penny’s hometown of Aurora, Colorado.  Not willing to be separated from his team by 1,000 miles, John, Sr. decided to move his corporate headquarters and his PEBA franchise to the Colorado city.

John, Sr. believes that this decision has benefited both the business and the franchise.  “In a lot of ways, it’s a better fit than Evanston would have been.  There are over 300,000 people in Aurora, and the Aurora-Boulder-Denver area has nearly 3 million citizens.  There’s no way that kind of fan base hurts our team.”  While JJ spoke in support of the move, Chris – through a press release – lashed out.  He claimed his father’s new wife was a gold digger (despite the fact that her career and John, Jr.’s investment advice had made her independently wealthy) and that the move to Colorado was questionably motivated and would result in trouble for both the team and Rodriguez Fitness.  At one point he even threatened to sever all connections with the family, but cooler heads prevailed and an agreement seems to have been reached.

Throughout this family turmoil, the Aurora Borealis quickly became one of the most successful teams in the PEBA.  Owing to such innovative promotions as “Take Home a Cow Night” and “Burn Dane Cook in Effigy Doubleheader Day,” the Borealis brought in 2.6 million fans to see a team finish with 87 wins, 21 games back.  With Christopher behind the scenes pulling the strings, Aurora has been one of the most financially sound teams in the league.

With huge amounts of fans supporting the team and buying tickets at $26.25 a shot, John, Sr. is free to do almost whatever he pleases with the team.  “I love doing silly things,” he says.  “Give out some livestock, put a goldfish in center field for an inning, challenge the mayor’s son to a gentleman’s duel – you get the idea.  People will flock to see stuff like that for the same reasons a plane in the Hudson River gets top billing on the news: it’s weird.”

 In keeping with that spirit, John has a simple policy about his employees: hire like-minded people.  “The more important the position, the more I feel it’s necessary to have someone like me out there.”  Nowhere is this more evident than in John’s selections as manager (Juan Toro, though John, Sr. does all the day-to-day managing of the team, making one wonder how Toro earns his $780,000 salary) and GM (himself).  “I can’t have some fool buying and selling players with my money,” he explains, “and if I’m putting together the roster, why would I want someone else deciding who plays where?  It makes sense.”

There is no doubt that, as questionable as his thought processes are, John, Sr. knows how to build a contender.  “It’s not as hard as they try to make it seem,” he explains as he peers over the rim of his mug of select-grown Earl Grey tea that he has flown in from Sri Lanka.  “Draft good guys, trade crappy guys, try to sign some free agents.  Shabazz!  A contender.”

This approach has won John not only nearly 300 games as a PEBA member, but also the hearts and minds of the people of Aurora.  “We love having the team here,” says Republican mayor Ed Tauer.  “They’re part of the community, and frankly it beats the pants off what we used to be stuck with: driving to Denver to watch the Rockies suck.”