MIAMI GARDENS— Edwin Rodriguez doesn't wait until putting on his Marlins uniform to begin his day as manager.
In the morning he fires up his laptop and updates his new website El Dirigente (eldirigente.com), Spanish for The Manager. He started it in February in response to numerous inquiries from his native Puerto Rico on various topics related to being a big-league manager.
The site is in Spanish, but he plans to eventually have an English version.
"I have experience building and keeping a web site running. So I thought, let's build a web site so people can watch it and I don't have to answer a hundred questions," he said.
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Not only does Rodriguez compose the content, he is his own web master. This is the latest of several baseball-related sites he has built over the past decade. He taught himself html code after being told it would cost $8,000 to have someone else build a site for him.
"I went to Barnes & Noble and bought a book for $30, and two months later the website was running. I kept doing it, and it's a hobby for me," Rodriguez said. "Almost 20 years I've been working with computers. I took a troubleshooting course to fix computers."
An unusual hobby for a major league manager, and one Rodriguez's players were unaware of.
"I had no idea. I don't know what his web site is about. I guess it's a sign of the times," said social-media savvy left fielder Logan Morrison, who is active on Twitter. Informed that Rodriguez's site is all in Spanish, he said, "I'd need to get on Rosetta Stone to get on there."
At one time Rodriguez had four sites running, all about baseball. He built one for a friend who is trying to launch a baseball coaches association in Puerto Rico.
Rodriguez posts a weekly column on his site, which also appears in a newspaper in Puerto Rico. He said most of the emails he answers pertain to how a manager goes about his business and how decisions are reached on players.
His hobby helped inspire a career for his son Alex, who is a fourth-year student in computer engineering.
cldavis@tribune
In the morning he fires up his laptop and updates his new website El Dirigente (eldirigente.com), Spanish for The Manager. He started it in February in response to numerous inquiries from his native Puerto Rico on various topics related to being a big-league manager.
The site is in Spanish, but he plans to eventually have an English version.
"I have experience building and keeping a web site running. So I thought, let's build a web site so people can watch it and I don't have to answer a hundred questions," he said.
Text alerts: Get South Florida sports news on your phone
Not only does Rodriguez compose the content, he is his own web master. This is the latest of several baseball-related sites he has built over the past decade. He taught himself html code after being told it would cost $8,000 to have someone else build a site for him.
"I went to Barnes & Noble and bought a book for $30, and two months later the website was running. I kept doing it, and it's a hobby for me," Rodriguez said. "Almost 20 years I've been working with computers. I took a troubleshooting course to fix computers."
An unusual hobby for a major league manager, and one Rodriguez's players were unaware of.
"I had no idea. I don't know what his web site is about. I guess it's a sign of the times," said social-media savvy left fielder Logan Morrison, who is active on Twitter. Informed that Rodriguez's site is all in Spanish, he said, "I'd need to get on Rosetta Stone to get on there."
At one time Rodriguez had four sites running, all about baseball. He built one for a friend who is trying to launch a baseball coaches association in Puerto Rico.
Rodriguez posts a weekly column on his site, which also appears in a newspaper in Puerto Rico. He said most of the emails he answers pertain to how a manager goes about his business and how decisions are reached on players.
His hobby helped inspire a career for his son Alex, who is a fourth-year student in computer engineering.
cldavis@tribune
Translated:
This is because our margin for error is very small, we have no depth on the bench or in the minor leagues to replace those on the current roster. The organization does not have the capital to raise the payroll at any time you have a chance to trade for an established player.
This is pretty cool.
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