Interviewing baseball broadcaster Danny Rodriguez | Ep. 001

Danny Rodriguez is the "Voice of the Hartford Yard Goats" on Spanish-speaking radio. Dan Lovallo interviewed Rodriguez in 2019 about his remarkable career.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome a baseball discourse with your host, Dan Lavallo. I love to do

(00:21):
interviews, as many of you whohave followed me, No and I broadcast
games for the Hartford Yardgoats with thevoice of the Ardgoats Jeff Dooley, and
the Artgoats also have their games broadcastin Spanish on a Spanish speaking radio station,
and for years the broadcaster has beenDanny Rodriguez and he's joined by his
son is sidekick, Derek Rodriguez,so the two are quite a tandem.

(00:46):
But Danny Rodriguez is seventy nine yearsold, served his country, loves baseball,
broadcast baseball in the United States andalso in Puerto Rico. Is a
great, great guy and during thebaseball season I had the opportunity to interview
him. So here is my interviewwith Danny Rodriguez. Hi, everybody,

(01:11):
I'm Dan Lavallo. When we arejoined by Danny Rodriguez, who is the
voice of the Hartford yard Goats onSpanish speaking radio and was also honored on
Roberto Clemente Night here at Duncan DonutsPark as our hero among us serving in
the United States military. Danny,first of all, congratulations on quite an

(01:33):
honor. Thank you very much,thank you very much. Like I told
you before we start an interview,I just was doing my duty, serving
the country, serving my country.This is our country, and we have
to preserve that, the mattress thatwe have. And this is why you
find people talking what they talk becausepeople like I don't know about you,
people like me and or the variantand the one serving to preserve. That's

(02:00):
what I serve. I feel veryproud to being a veteran, very proud
to serve. Now you were bornware, I was born in Ponce of
Puerto Rico, but I came toNew York when I was about sixteen seventeen
years old and ever since I livedin the States, so most most of

(02:23):
my life over here. But Inever forget my language, which is Spanish.
And I don't think my languages arebad either. So we we're very
happy, we're very proud to bein this country. Spanish, by the
way, is such a beautiful language, is it. It is a language
that you could express yourself in adifferent way with the same words okay,

(02:46):
And a lot of people don't realizethat. Unfortunately. Most of the people
they like to Spanish, but theygo bad words. You know, they
come to me, I think alittle bit blah blah. Right away they
say something that is not the rightthing, and I said, well,
that's Spanish, but that's so good. How long have you been broadcasting radio
baseball in Spanish on the radio?Well, I've been uh, excuse me,

(03:09):
I've been doing it for a longtime. I started in Puerto Rico
in little leagues, literally when Imoved out there. Yes, it happens
to be that my sister in lawthat she lived in Bayernmon, Puerto Rico,
Hilda Sawyer. She was the firstwoman president of Little Leaks in Puerto
Rico. So when I got there, I didn't want to get in bold

(03:30):
because they I came over here torest a little bit. And then no,
no, no, no, nono. I know your background,
so I want you to get it. She gave me a team and then
from there she knew that I wasin radio back here doing things here and
there, and we started there backin I don't know anyone, it's a
long time. I don't know.I don't let anyone. It's a little

(03:50):
bit ago, just a few yearsago. And then I did some boxing
too. I did some boxing ofFox Food. But should I The Cuban
delegation, Olympic delegation came to youknow, to the state to exchange with
an ExHAM with American US Olympic team, and I did that blockcasting too.

(04:12):
I did boxing too. Wow.Amazing Talking with Danny Rodriguez, the voice
of the Yard Girls on Spanish speakingradio. You played in coach baseball too,
didn't you. I played a littlebit of baseball too, h and
also manage double a amateur baseball.Uh. I played in the Caribbean,
I've been. I played in Europe, of course, I was well.

(04:32):
While I was in the service.You know, they have tryouts for everything,
even it's something that is called specialservices, and then you have ability
to do something, they let youtry out for that. And I went
for the team, and I guessI must impress somebody because they waited one
month, because before that I haveto do God duty no matter what,

(04:57):
for one month. So they waitedfor me for one month, and and
then I did meet the Armedforces teamin Europe. We went all over Europe
playing baseball. Yes, what wasthat experience like going all over Europe?
Oh? Well, it was fantasticbecause I didn't have the money to do
it on my own. So itwas fantastic. I went to a lot
of places, a lot of places, I including Berlin when they had the

(05:21):
war that theyn't trust us how toact. We went by training through Berlin
east to west to east and theneast to west. When we came back
and we saw, you know,the the Russian guards with with with dogs,

(05:42):
the German shepherd big dogs, andsome of the kids, you know,
you know how they were throwing orangesand until the the MPs with the
military police came in, Hey don'tdo that. You gotta get into trouble.
So then we had to stubble,you know how it is. We
were just teasing them. But butit was a beautiful speeling, beautiful speeling,
and I met a lot of people, a lot of good people.

(06:03):
You know, it's good to beplaces like that because you heard things,
you heard these, and you heardthat. But until you experience that,
then then you could talk about alot of people, talk about things without
opening the book. You can't gudgea book by its cover, you know.
That's and that's the beautiful people ofGermany. I had a very good

(06:27):
experience. I was very, veryvery welcoming there. I never felt anything
negative toward us before we let yougo. The greatest baseball player you ever
saw Clemente, Roberto Clemente that Iever saw, because I didn't say I
never saw what the magine I saw. They were good ball player, but
Clemente, Roberto Clemente was was orI don't know. I still say is

(06:51):
one of the if not the best. But they called fight cool player throw.
He could hit, he could run, he could hit for power,
and he could hit for average.He had everything and then he was a
great person, humanitarian, a greatgreat person. Him and his wife.
You know, last year I methis son came over here. I had

(07:14):
the privilege to interview his son.And his son was just like his father,
you know, too bad. Hesent a message yesterday because he can
be here. And his wife,I mean, he's write in case his
son. The mother she's getting twoyears now, she can't travel that much
Vera, but she she also senta message. And this is a beautiful

(07:39):
thing. I encourage and I tellpeople if you ever go to Puerto Rico
tried to go to shod at thePortiva, which is created by Clemente,
and there's when the the kids aresandlots people. They want kids that they
want to play baseball, and theydon't have the means that the doors are
opened for that is there's a greatthing. Clemente was a very proud person.

(08:03):
He was. He was a veryproud person. And he was a
very smart person too. A lotof people don't know he was. He
served in the military too, okay, he was in the Marines. Very
human humanitarian. Clemento was an engineer. People didn't know that. And he
played always going like this, I'mmaking a kind of they have a name

(08:28):
for the hypochondred or something like that. But I don't think he was,
you know, I don't think hewas. He had an accident, he
had an automobilax. I never thinkhe would, you know, But for
a bunning champion to have gold glows, I don't know. I don't know
if you know who Tichie Rodriguez,of course, the great golfer Chidrigez.

(08:50):
He got a very good sense ofhumor. He Rodriguez and Clemente used to
play for the same team in PuertoRico. So Kiki was telling us up
one time then that the money yourbench. Clemented to and played him and
then he said, that's how muchtime you know about Basbo. Here's your

(09:11):
home run call in Spanish, BattasoLargo largodol a Sitol Ronald Bataso, the
voice of the Yard Guilts on Spanishspeaking radio. Danny Rodriguez. Danny,

(09:33):
thanks very much, thank you,thank you anytime, Thank you very much.
My my interview with Danny Rodriguez.A great guy, a man who
has served his country. What abroadcaster now about that call, his home
run call and the great story aboutRoberto Clemente Danny Rodriguez, then the undertone, then underta