Deputy commish Rodriguez pleased with direction of MINK League

Tuesday, July 24, 2018
MINK League deputy commissioner Ron Rodriquez, pictured here in attendance at Saturday’s Nevada Griffons home game.
Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

Editor’s Note: The MINK League is a summer college baseball league, comprised of two four-team divisions, with seven teams from Missouri and one from Iowa.

It has been a superb 2018 season for the MINK League, according to MINK Deputy Commissioner Ron Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, on hand at Lyons Stadium for Saturday’s clash between the Nevada Griffons and Ozark Generals, spoke with the Daily Mail about the direction of the league.

“I think there’s a lot parity in the league this year, top to bottom,” noted Rodriguez. “Joplin’s been the only team eliminated from the playoffs, but they’ve been hot and are beating some of the top teams in the league.”

Continued Rodriguez: “Sedalia was running away with the North, but they’ve had some injuries and some guys leave.”

Rodriguez said that without a doubt he prefers parity, as opposed to a top-heavy league dominated by one or two teams.

“I think we all like parity,” he said. “It keeps everybody excited and into it, and nobody’s giving up.”

In the North Division Chillicothe needs to win out and have St. Joseph lose out in order to secure third-place and a Wild Card berth.

“Both Joplin and Chillicothe are still fighting and giving everybody a good ball game,” said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez ascended to deputy commissioner last fall, but has been affiliated with the MINK League since 2001, primarily as an umpire. Four years ago Rodriguez was named the MINK League umpire-in-chief.

Rodriguez touched on the evolution of the league.

“The league used to have a lot more Division I players,” he said. “Most of the teams (later) decided that wasn’t the way to go. A lot of baggage came with those players, both on-and-off the field. The (D-1) players expected a lot more. They expected to be treated differently, because they were the big boys.”

Rodriguez said he’s pleased with the current landscape of the league.

“From that aspect there are a lot of quality D-2 players, and some lower-level D-1 and JUCO players in the league that are doing real well. There are a lot of good players in the league this year, and we like that.”

Rodriguez said he believes the MINK League stacks up favorably with other summer league’s across the map.

“I think top to bottom we have a quality league,” he said.

Another topic Rodriguez touched on was the MINK League’s departure from the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series.

MINK League officials and the NBC cut ties two years ago.

“There’s a lot of factors that went into that,” recalled Rodriguez, adding that a weak economy dating back to 2008 has directly correlated with teams dropping from the high-profile event.

“It just got very expensive for everybody, especially those teams in our league,” concluded Rodriguez.

Rodriguez noted that the landscape of the NBC World Series has drastically changed in recent years, with teams like the 2017 NBC champion Kansas Stars, comprised entirely of retired Major League Baseball players, entering the fray.

“From an on-the-field perspective we like to think of ourselves as a summer collegiate league, we like to use college players. Whereas the NBC is more of an open (tournament). Some of those teams bring in 30-year-old players, ex-minor leaguers, major leaguers. And that makes it difficult for our league as whole, that we’re not geared towards that.”

Rodriguez said that another component of the league’s decision to vacate the tradition-rich NBC World Series was timing. The NBC World Series begins prior to the conclusion of the eight-week MINK League regular-season and ensuing playoffs.

Rodriguez said he doesn’t anticipate any major rules changes during the off-season, as most of those were implemented within the past couple of years.

“We went to the full NCAA rules three years ago, with just a few exceptions, due to the NCAA Rulebook being updated every two years.” he said. “With suspensions, we (now) abide by the NCAA rules. With ejections and actions on the field, we just go down the (NCAA) chart on suspensions. There’s no gray area, it’s all black and white.”

Rodriguez, however, said that there are several NCAA rules the MINK League departs from.. Those rules include: the (bluff) to third, throw to first base pickoff move, which is outlawed in the MINK League; NCAA use of a timer between innings; and tobacco, which is allowed in the MINK League.

“I prefer not to have tobacco ( in the league),” said Rodriguez. “But I know there’s a lot of old-timers in the league that have voted to keep it. So as of right now it’s still allowed. Hopefully we’ll move to the point where it’s not allowed.”

Concluded Rodriguez: “I’m excited about the direction of the league. We’re hoping to get it promoted a little more, trying to get more college coaches to join the league.”

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