Edwin Rodriguez The 1st Puerto Rican Manager in MLB

With the firing of Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez this morning, his replacement makes history. Edwin Rodriguez becomes the 1st Puerto Rican manager in the Majors after taking over the reins of the Florida Marlins with the dismissal of Fredi Gonzalez after a disappointing (to team owner Jeffrey Loria) 34-36 record. It was believed (again by Jeffrey Loria) that the Marlins were a playoff caliber team. The situation was compounded by a benching of superstar Hanley Ramirez and the ensuing public dispute between Gonzalez and Ramirez. (Photo Credit: Andres Leighton/AP Photo)

Rodriguez, in his eighth season in the Marlins organization, managed their AAA affiliate the New Orleans Zephers for the past season and a half. Rodriguez had spent two years as manager of Single-A Greensboro (2007-08), two as manager of the Gulf Coast League Marlins (2005-06), and two as hitting coach for Double-A Carolina (2003-04). Rodriguez also was part of the Tampa Bay organization, managing Rookie-level Princeton for three seasons (2000-02) and Class A Hudson Valley for one (1999). He played parts of three seasons with the Yankees and Padres from 1982-85. Rodriguez joins Juan Samuel as the 2nd Latino to be hired as a major league manager (Samuel is the interim manager for the Baltimore Orioles).

In terms of the departing Gonzalez, he has the most wins of any manager in Marlins history with an overall record of 276-279. After an overachieving 2008 season where the Marlins finished in 2nd place in the NL East with an 84-77 record, he was named The Sporting News' Manager of the Year.

As much as I hate to see a Latino lose his job, I'm glad to see that another one was chosen to right the ship. Felicidades Edwin, good luck.

FH

Latino Managers

With the current baseball season close to beginning, I just wanted to highlight how many Latinos have reached the position of Manager of a Major League franchise. Considering that Latinos have been playing professionally since the early days, the managerial ranks have been represented by Latinos. Here's a list of how the Latinos have been represented:

Miguel Angel "Mike" Gonzalez (Cuba) 1st Latino Manager
Preston Gomez (Cuba) 2nd
Octavio "Cookie" Rojas (Cuba) 3rd
Felipe Alou (DR) 4th 1st Latino All-Star Manager
Tony Perez (Cuba) 5th
Tony Pena (DR) 6th
Carlos Tosca (Cuba) 7th
Ozzie Guillen (Venezuela) 8th 1st Latino manager of a World Series Champion
Manny Elias Acta (DR) 9th
Fredi Jesus Gonzalez (Cuba) 10th

Honorable Mention Latino/Hispanic Heritage
Davey Lopes (Cape Verde)
Al Lopez (Spain)
Lou Pinella (Spain)
Tony LaRussa (Spain)

It is interesting to see how the choice of managers reflect the era in which certain Latino groups have been dominant. Where the first group of managers were from Cuba, with the closing of Cuba in the 1960's, the ranks were filled by more Dominican, Puerto Rican and Venezuelan players. What I do find strange that there has yet to be a Puerto Rican manager in the major leagues.

Maybe as a Catcher, Ivan Rodriguez has the best shot for a Boriqua to become a manager. It seems to me that his current position on the Washington Nationals is two fold: one as a player and second is a mentor and tutor to the younger players. Any other suggestions on who can reach the position of manager from current crop of Latino players? Feel free to comment and add to the discussion

FH