by Pam Postema, Asst. to Yuma GM

September 24, 2014: Kivalina, AK — The upstart Bowheads from Kivalina swept their two-game series with the Akutan Island Eagles behind the young arms of the Bowheads pitching staff. Especially impressive was the performance of the heretofore-unknown 20-year-old left hander Alonso Rodríguez, who allowed the Eagles just three hits and one run in his seven innings of work in the opening game of the Alaskan League playoffs.

Just three months ago, Rodríguez was pitching in Nicaragua, where Yuma scout Lúcio Carvajal discovered and signed him. The scout’s initial report to Yuma GM Bob Mayberry said, “Rodríguez knows how to pitch; uses his entire repertoire effectively.” That sold the Yuma front office, where talented young pitchers are revered more than virgins from Guadalupe.

Rodríguez arrived in Kivalina in mid-August after a month’s layover in AAA Henderson’s bullpen, where he saw very little action. But since joining the Bowheads, he has started seven games and won five of them without a single loss. More importantly to the Kivalina playoff drive, the Bowheads have won the last six games Rodríguez has started, including Monday’s playoff opener.

In Rodríguez’s home town of Estilí, Nicaragua, he was called “Raptor” by his friends and teammates. When he first arrived in the U.S., teammates and coaches continued with the nickname, assuming they were describing their new pitcher as a vicious bird of prey. Some of the boys from the U.S. noticed that the Spanish-speaking players laughed whenever they used the nickname.

Finally, César Aguilar clued his Anglo teammates in on the joke. Turns out, in Spanish, “raptor” is not the name for a particularly aggressive bird of prey. Rather, it means “abductor” or “kidnapper”. Who knew?

Rodríguez earned the nickname because of a youthful prank. Before an important game, he stole the opponents’ bats. The next day, the opposition had to borrow bats from Rodríguez’s team, who offered only their oldest, most damaged bats, some of which had splinters repaired with tape and glue (new wooden bats are not common in Nicaragua). That day, Rodríguez threw a shutout and earned the appellation “Raptor” for his theft.

When they learned of their mistake, the Anglo players on the Bowheads’ ballclub began  looking for a new nickname for Rodríguez. They may have found one. The scouting report on Rodríguez is that his fastball “flattens out” when he overthrows, which he tends to do under pressure. His sinker and splitter are above average, but his curveball and changeup need work. Still, as his record shows, he gets batters out. What’s his secret?

Rodríguez was coached by Nicaragua’s first major league ballplayer, “El Presidente” Dennis Martínez, who won 245 games in 23 MLB seasons, including a perfect game in 1991, only the 13^th thrown in the major leagues at that time. Martínez is a national hero; the national ballpark in Managua, capital of Nicaragua, is named for him. During his early years in the majors, mostly with Baltimore, Dennis was known for his fastball. But as he aged, he grew craftier, and by the end of his career, his spitball was legend. Since Martínez spends his winters teaching pitching in his native country of Nicaragua, it should be no surprise that his students have mastered the art of doctoring the baseball.

For the time being, it’s just a rumor. But in the Bowheads dugout, Alonso Rodríguez is no longer answering to the moniker “Raptor.” Now they call him “Doctor de Nicaragua”.