La Vida Voices: LA Times Sports Editor Angel Rodriguez

Angel Rodriguez is in a rare position as a Latino in journalism. As the Los Angeles Times’ sports editor since 2015, he sets the tone and sensibility of the sports section at one of the nation’s largest newspapers.

Like a general manager in baseball, Angel’s job involves building a strong team. This includes finding baseball writers to cover both of Los Angeles’ major league teams. To that end, he hired Maria Torres and Jorge Castillo to cover the Angels and the Dodgers, respectively, last season. Adding these talented bilingual writers to a roster that already included columnist Dylan Hernández positions the Los Angeles Times to get the best stories.

The additions give Rodriguez a diverse team that can communicate in multiple languages and also understand cultural nuance at a time when Latinos represent more than a quarter of major leaguers.

I reached out to Rodriguez to learn more about his journey as a journalist and baseball fan.

Adrian Burgos, Jr.: What sparked your love of baseball? Who were your favorite baseball players? What was your favorite baseball memory?

Angel Rodriguez: I grew up on the North Side of Chicago as a White Sox fan, which didn’t make me very popular in my grade school or with the Polish nuns at St. Wenceslaus School. My family left Cuba in the late 1960s during the Freedom Flights and ended up Chicago. My dad was always a fan of Minnie Miñoso, and so we became White Sox fans.

I remember always being interested in the Latino players because they had last names I recognized. I grew up in a mostly Polish neighborhood, so I was always looking for people that looked or sounded like me. In Chicago that was Minnie, Jose Cardenal and Jorge Orta because I had people in my family with those names.

My family moved to Houston when I was 10, and I slowly became an Astros fan. So I have to say my favorite memory as a baseball fan happened just a couple years ago when the Astros won the World Series.

AB: As a Cuban American, what has been the place of baseball within your family?

AR: Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’d get home from school, and my grandmother would have on the Cubs game on WGN. At night we’d watch the White Sox games on Channel 44 with Harry Caray. My grandfather didn’t understand a word he said, but he’d complain about how (Caray) sounded like he had a ‘papa en la boca’ [a potato in his mouth].

When I played baseball growing up it was always a family affair. My parents and my grandparents would always come to watch. There was that feeling of pride when you had a good game because you knew they were watching.

Even now it is usually the first thing that my dad and I talk about. “Has seguido como van los Astros.” (Have you followed how the Astros are doing?) We’ll talk about that or the latest antics of Yasiel Puig, and it’s like the years haven’t passed at all.

AB: After the death of José Fernández you wrote a powerful piece about what he meant to Cuban-Americans. What was it about Fernández that so many people connected with as a player and as a persona?

AR: I think it was the video shot by MLB when his grandmother came and surprised him from Cuba. As a Cuban-American, exile and family separation are things you live with on a day-to-day basis.

The expression of joy he showed when he saw his grandmother for the first time in a while is familiar to many Cubans who have lived through the pain of family separation.

The pride in him that his family had is exactly what we all want in this country – the opportunity to succeed. I root for all Cuban players, but that moment with his grandmother made me a fan of his.

Rarely has a famous person’s death struck me like José’s death.

You felt like he was part of your family. I said it in the story that he felt like the good-looking, popular cousin you had that you always wanted to emulate. I still wonder what he would be doing in the majors now.

When we talk about diversity in newsrooms, the death of José Fernández is the perfect example of why we need it. To others his death was a sad event, but to Cuban-Americans it was something completely different. It felt different. I don’t write much anymore, but in this case I needed to so others would understand how important José really was.

AB: Much of baseball’s off-season was rather slow, but you were busy making new acquisitions. How does having bilingual sportswriters covering baseball influence how baseball stories on Latinos are told?

AR: As you mentioned we hired Jorge to cover the Dodgers and Maria Torres, formerly of the Kansas City Star, to cover the Angels. I think it is critical we have beat writers that can tell the stories of the players in their own language.

Having grown up in a household were my parents struggled with the English, I know how important language is. If you aren’t comfortable speaking English you avoid those situations. You wonder what amazing stories got missed when there were hardly any Spanish-speaking media in a professional clubhouse.

And it goes beyond language. Understanding our culture is important as well. We are lucky to also have Dylan Hernandez as a columnist. His father is from El Salvador and his mother from Japan. He has been incredibly helpful in understanding the difference in the Japanese culture and how it reflects on the Japanese players.

AB: Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation announced an agreement this off-season. How do you see this agreement having an impact on future Cuban players coming to play in the United States?

AR: I think player safety should be the most important aspect of this so I am happy that players seemingly will have a safer journey to the United State to pursue their dreams. What really upsets me, though, is that these players will need to pay the Cuban government part of their salaries.

Major League Baseball shouldn’t be propping up a totalitarian regime. If the Cuban government really cared about their players, they’d let them emigrate and follow their dreams wherever they may be. That is what living in a truly free country is all about.

Unfortunately, the Cuban government is looking at them as a revenue stream.

AB: Thanks Angel for taking the time to talk baseball and your work as a journalist. I truly appreciated your insights about the Cuban-American experience. Be sure to follow Angel on Twitter.

Featured Image: Angel Rodriguez Twitter