Jimmy Direaux

Jimmy Direaux was a pitcher and outfielder for the Washington Elite Giants and Baltiimore Elite Giants of the Negro National League, in 1937-38.

James Direaux (often spelled Direux) was born in Pasadena, California, in 1916; his parents were from Missouri. In the 1930 census he and his four younger siblings lived with their grandmother, 60-year-old Mary Minton, at 1572 51^st Street in Los Angeles. Jimmy was 14, Paul 12, Thomas 10, Mary 8, and Ruth 7. Grandmother Mary worked as a servant.

In 1932 16-year-old Jimmy played amateur baseball for the Newtons Elite Red Sox, an all-black team that played against both black and white teams, at second base and in the outfield. He attended Riis High School in Los Angeles, and in the spring of 1933 he joined the baseball team there. That summer he played amateur ball again, this time for the Los Angeles Colored Giants.

In the spring of 1934 Jimmy’s name started to appear in newspaper accounts of high school track meets; he competed in the 440 and the broad jump. In the fall of 1934 he was on the football team, and in the spring of 1935, pitching for the baseball team, he achieved the feat that would get him into “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” a year later: “Jimmy Direaux, Riis High School, Los Angeles, struck out 108 batters in 6 games (54 innings)—1935.”

After high school Jimmy pitched for the Phoenix Bronchos of the semi-pro Arizona State League, then in the winter of 1936-37 he pitched for the Elite Giants, one of the black teams in the integrated Southern California Winter League and an offshoot of the Negro National League team of the same name. On February 27, 1937, the Pittsburgh Courier reported that he was joining the NNL team:

Tom Wilson Signs Young Pitching Star

DIREUX, PITCHING ACE JOINS ELITES

MEMPHIS, Feb. 25.—Believe it or not, the storybook star of the California baseball world will wear a Nashville Elite Giants uniform for the 1937 baseball season.

His name is Jimmy Direux, the 20-year-old pitching sensation who first knocked on the door of the Hall of Fame, when he was mentioned by Ripley of “Believe-it-ot-Not” fame for the unusual feat of striking out 108 batters in 54 innings.

Direux came to town last week and since that time has been the cynosure of all eyes…

Direux will be one of the several stars going to spring training at either Jacksonville or New Orleans with the Giants, March 1. Despite his prowess as a high school player, he’ll have to prove that he’s ready to go in the Negro National League.

The Nashville team this year will be entered in the National League as the Washington Elite Giants, playing a few of its home games here but entertaining its foes at Griffith Stadium a greater part of the time…

Direux has his own ideas about modern day baseball. For instance, he’ll tell you that Bob Feller will be the greatest of all time before he finishes his major league career.

And he doesn’t like Dizzy Dean. “They’ll catch onto that guy one of these days,” he says. He saw Satchel Paige, ace pitcher of the colored ranks, pitched [sic] against and beat Dizzy in 1934. Paige is a member of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, who has just returned from Porto Rico where he pitched for an all-star team.

“Paige is the greatest pitcher in baseball right now,” Direaux asserts. “Only thing that keeps him down is his color.”

The Elite Giants played 62 league games in 1937, plus many exhibition games. Of the 62, we have stats for 37 of them, and Jimmy played in 15 of those, pitching in nine. He was 3-3 with a 4.62 ERA in 62 1/3 innings; at the plate he hit .393/.452/.536 in 28 at-bats. His teammates included manager-catcher Biz Mackey and 15-year-old backup catcher Roy Campanella.

Jimmy returned to the Southern California Winter League for the off-season, playing for both the Detroit Stars and the Philadelphia Royal Giants. From the December 10 Los Angeles Daily News:

Gala Day Due Sunday in Ball Tilt

Biggest day of Winter League baseball season is scheduled for Sunday when the Royal Giants defend their league leadership against Detroit Stars. Kenny Washington and Woodrow Wilson Strode, U.C.L.A. grid stars, will be honor [sic] guests at the White Sox Park.

Kenny, who tossed a record pass of 62 yards for a touchdown against the Trojans last Saturday, will join with his teammate Strode in the football passing contest, one of the many events on the “field day” program.

Other events include a match race between “Cool-Papa” Bell and Jimmy Direaux, baseball throwing for accuracy and distance between the Giants, Stars and members of the girls softball champions of the Central League, Webb’s Nighthawks.

I found a reference to another race between Jimmy and Bell the following week, but did not find who won either one. In the spring of 1938 Jimmy returned to the Elite Giants, now operating out of Baltimore. On May 28 Wendell Smith’s “Smitty’s Sport Spurts” column in the Pittsburgh Courier included:

Jimmie Direux, the young Baltimore hurler, from Los Angeles, who recently [not so recently] was featured in Ripley’s “Believe It Or Not,” has a sore arm. So far this year he has been effective against rival teams in the league.

For 1938 we have stats for 37 of the Elite Giants’ 52 league games, and Jimmy pitched in nine, starting three, with a 5.28 ERA in 30 2/3 innings. He played five games at other positions and 16 games overall, hitting .240/.345/.280 in 25 at-bats.

The Atlanta Daily World of April 15, 1939, reported that Jimmy was expected to report to the Elite Giants’ spring training camp in Nashville later in the week, but in fact he was done with the Negro Leagues and he started playing in Mexico.

Jimmy signed with the Monterrey Industriales of the Mexican League. He played in 55 of the team’s 60 league games, hitting .302/.369/.486 in 179 at-bats. He pitched in 27 of those games, and had an 11-10 record with a 3.50 ERA in 187 2/3 innings—an impressive number of innings for a 60-game season.

At some point during the 1940 season Jimmy moved from Monterrey to the Tampico Alijadores. Although the season was longer than 1939, about 90 games per team, he only played in 37, pitching in eight, playing third and outfield in the others. He hit just .210/.338/.269, and had a 4.33 ERA.

In 1941 Jimmy returned to Tampico. The team played 101 games and he appeared in 88 of them, eight at pitcher and the rest at third base. He hit .236/.364/.337 in 276 at-bats, and had a 2.29 ERA with an unlikely ratio of 17 walks and one strikeout in 35 1/3 innings.

In 1942 Jimmy had his best offensive season in Mexico. He played in 88 of Tampico’s 91 games, 85 at third and just three pitching; he hit .271/.415/.416 and finished third in the league in doubles (24) and walks (73).

Jimmy went to the Veracruz Azules for 1943 but only played in 13 games; I could not find out why. He hit just .186/.327/.209 in 43 at-bats, playing left field.

For 1944 Jimmy returned to Tampico and played in all 91 of their games, mostly in right field. He hit .285/.364/.380 in 337 at-bats. In 1945 he pitched one inning for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, and in 1948 he went 0-for-3 for them in four games, pitching one more inning.

I don’t know anything about Jimmy’s life after that. He may have remained in Mexico—I found a mention, which I couldn’t confirm, that he died in Villahermosa, Tabasco, on October 3, 1985.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/direaji01.shtml

Wilfredo Rodriguez

Wilfredo Rodriguez was a relief pitcher in two games with the 2001 Houston Astros.

Wilfredo José Rodriguez was born March 20, 1979, in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, and attended Bolivar High School. A left-handed pitcher, he signed with the Astros organization at age 16 for a $17,500 bonus and made his professional debut in 1979 at 18, with the Astros’ Rookie Class Gulf Coast League team. He had an 8-2 record and 3.04 ERA in 68 innings in 12 starts, striking out 71 and walking 32.

For 1998 Wilfredo was moved up to the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League. He was 11-5 with a 3.05 ERA, and struck out 170 in 165 innings. 1999 found him with the Kissimmee Cobras of the Florida State League, Class Advanced A. He went 15-7 with a 2.88 ERA in 153 1/3 innings, leading the league in wins and in strikeouts with 148. After the season the Astros moved him to the major league roster to protect him from the draft.

In February 2000 Wilfredo signed a one-year major league contract and went to spring training with Houston. Baseball America named him the Astros’ top prospect. In mid-March he was sent to the minor league camp, and he started the season back with Kissimmee. Mid-season he was moved up to the Round Rock Express of the AA Texas League, but it seems like he may have begun to have arm issues—he pitched only 110 innings in 20 starts between the two teams, and had a 5.29 ERA. He struck out 107, but walked 82.

Wilfredo signed another Houston contract for 2001; Baseball America named him the Astros’ number three prospect despite the off-year. Again he was sent to the minor league camp during spring training, and he returned to Round Rock. For the first time he was used mainly in relief, starting ten of his 42 appearances, striking out 94 and walking 56 in 92 1/3 innings with a 4.78 ERA. When the Texas League season ended he was called up to Houston.

Wilfredo made his major league debut on September 21, at home against the Cubs. He relieved Nelson Cruz (the other Nelson Cruz) with nobody out in the top of the 7^th, with three runs in and Fred McGriff on second, and a 7-3 Cubs lead. He got Rondell White to fly out, allowed a triple to Michael Tucker and a sacrifice fly to Bill Mueller, then struck out Robert Machado. He gave up a three-run homer to McGriff in the 8^th but stayed in the game until he was pinch-hit for by Daryle Ward in the bottom of the inning. The Astros lost 12-3.

Wilfredo didn’t get into another game until October 4, the final game of a home series against the Giants. He came in to pitch the 9^th with the Astros down 9-2; the first batter was Barry Bonds, who hit his 70^th home run of the season, tying Mark McGwire’s record. Wilfredo then retired the side, around a double by Andres Galarraga. From the next day’s San Francisco Chronicle:

Astros’ reliever takes on challenge

HOUSTON—Wilfredo Rodriguez started the season in Double-A and ended up in the history book.

Less than two weeks after his major league debut, Rodriguez challenged Barry Bonds with a fastball in the ninth inning Thursday night and Bonds hit his record-tying homer.

“I feel OK,” Rodriguez said. “I am happy for him. He deserves what he got with the 70^th home run. I threw him fastballs. That’s what I do. I was confident with it. I was trying to get him out.”

While most Astros pitchers avoided giving Bonds anything to hit, Bonds finally got a chance to match Mark McGwire’s mark in his final at-bat of San Francisco’s 10-2 win, which completed a three-game sweep.

“The game was out of hand,” Astros manager Larry Dierker said. “He would not have pitched in that situation if we had a chance to win. We figured he might be just wild enough to throw one down the middle and he would hit it out.

“Maybe he’d throw outside and walk him.”

In his major-league debut Sept. 21, Rodriguez allowed four hits and four runs in two innings in a 12-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Rodriguez wasn’t sure he’d get into the game but ran to the mound in the ninth inning and Bonds was his first batter.

“It was already 9-2 when Bonds came up to bat,” Astros catcher Tony Eusebio said. “There wasn’t much time to talk to him. You don’t get any baby sitters up here. You just have to go out and do your job the best you can.”

Rodriguez didn’t hesitate. Bonds swung and missed at a 95-mph fastball and allowed another fastball to pass up and in before the home run.

“It was 9-2 and I was trying to get him out,” Rodriguez said. “I wasn’t trying to pitch around him. I was just trying to get him out.”

Rodriguez was 5-9 with a 4.78 ERA in 42 appearances with the Double-A Round Rock Express this season.

When Bonds was asked if he had heard of the 22-year-old left-hander before the home run, he said: “Not at all. He throws hard. No doubt about that.”

From a November 4 AP story:

A month later, Wilfredo Rodriguez has no regrets.

The 22-year-old Venezuelan, two weeks into his major league career with the Houston Astros, gave up Barry Bonds’ record-tying 70^th home run.

He is not ashamed of the pitch—a 90 mph fastball right over the plate.

“He was confident, the score was 9-2 in the ninth,” Rodriguez said. “I tried with the utmost professionalism to do my job and he did his.”

Rodriguez is proud that Bonds mentioned him in the same breath as Randy Johnson.

“I’ll never forget Bonds saying that with the exception of Randy Johnson, he’d never seen a left-hander pitch as hard as me,” Rodriguez said. “That gives me every reason to push ahead.”

The left-hander probably will start next season in the minors but is a highly regarded prospect for the Astros.

“I’m confident that I’ll return to the top soon,” he said. “The truth is that I feel better that Bonds hit three other home runs. The weight of being the victim of the record is off my shoulders.”

In 2002 Wilfredo signed another Houston contract, went to spring training, and in March was assigned to the minor league camp. By the time the regular season started he was on the disabled list; he underwent surgery to have bone chips removed from his left elbow. In June, still on the DL, he started working out with the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Astros’ AAA affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. In mid-July, apparently not impressed with his progress, the Astros dropped him from the 40-man major league roster to make room for another player. Any other team could have claimed him on waivers, but they all passed, making him a free agent. At this point the Astros tried to re-sign him, but he chose the Cubs, who sent him to extended spring training at their facility in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Cubs released Wilfredo in October, without his getting into any actual games. In 2003 he signed with the Expos, but didn’t get into any games that year either. In 2004 he pitched for three different Expos’ farm clubs: between the three he had a 10.29 ERA in 15 games, six of them starts; in 42 innings he allowed 62 hits, struck out 31 and walked 37. He was released, then pitched one game for the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the independent Northern League.

In 2005 Wilfredo was invited to spring training by the Texas Rangers after signing a minor-league contract. From the Abilene Reporter News, February 17:

The only pitchers considered absent by Showalter and not expected in Arizona for the opening workout were right-hander Rosman Garcia and left-hander Wilfredo Rodriguez. The non-roster invitees from Venezuela were having problems with their visas that could keep them away several more days.

Wilfredo made it there, then was sent to the minor league camp on March 19. He wound up with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League, where he made the all-star team despite making just 12 starts; he had a 3.80 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings. He was also sent briefly to the Oklahoma RedHawks of the Pacific Coast League, for whom he made two starts and had a 1.42 ERA.

Still, the Rangers released him after the season. While playing winter baseball in Venezuela he was spotted by a Milwaukee scout and got an invitation to the Brewers’ 2006 spring training. Yet again he was reassigned to the minor league camp, and then he was released. He made three appearances for the San Angelo Colts of the independent United League, and that apparently closed his pro career. From the San Francisco Chronicle of May 15, 2007:

A bold name on Bonds’ list just fades away

By Henry Schulman

Chronicle Staff Writer

HOUSTON—The dates on the pitcher’s biography are as stark as they are sad.

Born: March 20, 1979.

Major-league debut: Sept. 21, 2001.

Final game: Oct. 4, 2001.

At 22, his baseball dream came true. Thirteen days later, it was over—although he hardly knew it then.

He is Wilfredo Rodriguez, whose name should evoke some recognition from Giants fans. In the third and final inning of his major-league career, the left-hander from Venezuela fired a 93-mph fastball toward Barry Bonds, who crushed it into the second deck at Minute Maid Park here for his 70^th home run of 2001, tying Mark McGwire’s single-season record.

Bonds, who hit 71 and 72 a night later in San Francisco, returns to Houston this evening to resume his quest for Henry Aaron’s all-time record.

Big things have happened for Bonds since 2001. He won four more National League Most Valuable Player awards. He signed a $90 million contract that winter and another $16 million deal after the 2006 season. He hit many milestone homers: 600, 660, 700 and 714, to name a few. He also became a scourge as the face of baseball’s steroids scandal.

But what of Rodriguez and that forceful young arm, which could propel a baseball at close to 100 mph? His fate was not as kind and a vivid reminder of one of the cruelest rules of the game, that getting to the big leagues is one thing, and staying there is something else.

After their historic meeting in 2001, Bonds got richer and Rodriguez fell off the map, a victim of elbow troubles that he spent five years trying to overcome. Apparently, he failed. Although Rodriguez could not be reached for comment, and his agents did not return phone calls, a receptionist for one of the agents, surprised to hear a reporter ask about the pitcher, said, “Oh, he’s retired and back in Venezuela.”

As recently as last year, Rodriguez tried to pitch in an independent league in Texas, but he left after three games because of arm trouble. Giants catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, who played with Rodriguez for the Caracas Lions in winter ball, said he heard Rodriguez needed “Tommy John” surgery, but that could not be confirmed.

True or not, it appears the pitcher who served up one of baseball’s most famous home runs is done at 28, merely a bold-faced name on a list of 438 pitchers whom Bonds has taken deep.

“It’s kind of sad to hear stuff like that about anybody, especially if he was a top prospect in the big leagues,” said Colorado catcher Yorvit Torrealba, another Venezuelan. “He’s so young, too, not to pitch or play anymore. I’m sure it’s hard on him.”

“Unfortunately,” Astros general manager Tim Purpura said, “it’s one of the things that happens in the game. Barry Bonds has hit home runs off the best pitchers in the game and obviously hit one off a barely known pitcher in the game. When you’re around that long and hit that many home runs, it’s going to be a wide swath of pitchers you will have faced.”

Purpura worked in the Astros’ front office when Rodriguez came through their Venezuelan academy as a teenager. They signed him for a $17,500 bonus, and he rose through their system with so much promise. A lefty who throws 97 mph? That’s Randy Johnson. That’s Billy Wagner.

“He was probably one of the best left-handed arms we had that had come through our system, maybe ever,” Purpura said. “He had a ‘plus’ fastball, very good curveball, good changeup. He was an impressive prospect.”

However…

“He had various elbow issues. He was one of those players who pitched through a lot of pain throughout his career. He had an elbow with a lot of wear and tear, arthritic changes, bone spurs, things you don’t typically see with a player at that point in his career. He had some pretty advanced degeneration in his elbow.”

After a recap of Wilfredo’s 2002 to 2005, the article continues:

Pitching in Venezuela the following winter, he caught the eye of a Milwaukee scout, and the Brewers invited him to big-league camp in 2006. But by mid-March, he was released.

“He was an injury risk. He definitely wasn’t the same,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. “His velocity was 87 to 89. Beyond that, he wasn’t the same as he was before all the surgeries. You hope everyone who gave up a home run to Barry doesn’t fall like that. There’d be a shortage of pitchers.”

Rodriguez found refuge in the Texas indy league, in which players earn in the hundreds of dollars a week, not the tens of thousands. Harlan Bruha, the owner of the San Angelo Colts, pulled Rodriguez’s file last week and read his stats from last May: three games, two starts, six innings, ERA 12.00.

“He wasn’t right,” Bruha said. “He certainly wasn’t the Wilfredo Rodriguez who gave up Bonds’ 70^th home run.”

Rodriguez might have gone home to Venezuela for good, as his agent’s receptionist said, or he might be grasping for one more chance, however he gets it, to relive the adrenaline of those two major-league appearances in 2001.

Torrealba shook his head at the thought of Rodriguez back home. Torrealba was there that night in Houston, when the careers of Bonds and the 22-year-old pitcher intersected along their different paths.

“Obviously, we knew he was a top prospect,” Torrealba said. “He threw hard, 97, 98 mph. I know for a fact he had problems with his elbow, but I’m really shocked by the fact he retired for whatever reason. We knew what he was capable of doing.”

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/R/Prodrw001.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rodriwi01.shtml