Submitted by Eric Gissendanner '14, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, Plattsburgh
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Former Plattsburgh State baseball catcher Alex Rodriguez (Carolina, Puerto Rico) is the recipient of this year's State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Award of Valor. Rodriguez will receive the award at the conference's awards banquet on May 15. He becomes the fourth Cardinal to earn the award, joining Ashley Napear (softball, 2010), Brian Mehan (baseball, 2008) and Stephanie (Zweig) Conroy (softball, 2006). Launched in 2003, recipients of this award used perseverance, dedication and determination to overcome a life-altering event.
"Alex is a shining example of how the harder you fight, the better that things will get," Plattsburgh State head coach Kris Doorey said. "What he has had to go through at his age shouldn't be what anyone has had to go through. How he's handled everything shows how much fight and spirit he has."
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Rodriguez says he always had a dream of attending an American university and playing collegiate baseball. The location and level did not matter, he wanted to be a student-athlete. Thus started Rodriguez's winding road from the sunny northeast corner of Puerto Rico to the frigid pocket of northern New York.
Recruited in high school by an Atlanta-based athletics academy, Rodriguez was among a select group to join an upstart baseball program. College scouts in the stands, college-prep courses, lodging and meals were all promised in the too-good-to-true rhetoric. The words did not translate to actions and Rodriguez was left wondering where to go and what to do next to pursue his dream. He was promised the same amenities by a Florida academy, but that too fell short. He seemed to have been left out to dry again.
Ever-eager to be ahead and not let two setbacks quell his desire to attend college and play baseball, Rodriguez enrolled at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Md. He played the 2014 season with the Owls and batted .315 and slugged .463 in 16 games as the team advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) World Series. A mutual friend who knew Plattsburgh State assistant coach Brian Burns '13 then put Rodriguez in touch with the Cardinals' coaching staff. Rodriguez had already gotten his foot in the door at Prince George's, but now he had a chance to play at a four-year school.
"I visited Plattsburgh and really enjoyed the people and the campus," Rodriguez said. "There were a couple of other schools that I thought about but Plattsburgh just seemed to be a good place to go."
That on-campus visit, though, did not fully encompass the truly glaring difference between Puerto Rico and Plattsburgh: the weather. Rodriguez acknowledges that his year in Maryland gave him a taste of chilly temperatures but that nothing prepped him for the stark reality that is a Plattsburgh winter. Adjustments, both in everyday life and as a baseball player, were in order.
Now a junior, Rodriguez's first day as a Plattsburgh State student-athlete came in January 2015. He would be one of three rostered catchers and the only newcomer behind the plate. Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with an RBI in his Plattsburgh State debut. In 27 games that season – 18 starts – he would go on to bat .290 with 20 hits, two doubles and 12 RBIs, while recording six multi-hit games.
Rodriguez's 2016 senior season was to be his farewell tour and a nod to the realization that he had fulfilled his goal as a collegiate student-athlete. At the end of the road, he would not only have played college baseball but he would also walk across the stage as a college graduate.
Then, the headaches started.
Rodriguez first remembers feeling and not looking well during the Cardinals' annual spring trip to Florida.
"I looked at myself in a mirror and my forehead was really swollen," Rodriguez recalls. "I asked myself and my teammates, 'Does this look right?'"
Rodriguez visited the hospital and was told that the swelling, fatigue and headaches were symptoms of a sinus infection. Medicine and time would remedy those problems so it was back to baseball. He had already started eight games and was penciled in for the upcoming conference games upon the return home. A rough Florida outing was ready to be put behind and the grind of SUNYAC competition was forthcoming.
Rodriguez now jokingly tells how he knew his health was off and how whatever he had felt in Florida was more than a sinus infection.
"I was in the dorms, showering," Rodriguez says. "A cold shower. I mean, who in Plattsburgh takes a cold shower when it's freezing outside?"
His body was reacting to something much more and almost in an instant, Rodriguez collapsed.
Quickly found by a friend, Rodriguez was rushed to the hospital where a variety of tests soon revealed that his infection was coupled with an abscess. Emergency surgery was performed across the lake at the University of Vermont Medical Center and in the process, Rodriguez suffered a stroke that was brought on by the swelling. He had survived the surgery and subsequent complications, but Rodriguez's new road was beginning.
"I remember coming out of surgery and being told that I was out," Rodriguez said. "I couldn't see anything, it was all black."
The stroke had occurred in the area of the brain that controls vision. His eyesight would be impaired but the length and severity were unknowns. Rodriguez's goals were just six weeks away but now everything was paused.
"My vision has started coming back slowly," Rodriguez said. "Things are sort of blurry and I can't see fully out of my right eye."
Rodriguez returned to Puerto Rico after surgery and has been working with his family to sort out the next steps. The progress has been slow while he recovers, but it is progress. It is a sign that things are moving forward. He misses his teammates and you can sense the joy whenever he talks about what those friendships mean to him and how much he wants to finish what he started.
The immediate outreach from the Plattsburgh State baseball community was evident. Rodriguez's medical expenses and travel costs from Puerto Rico and Vermont were adding up so his family setup a GoFundMe page to assist with the costs. The Cardinal coaching staff learned of the page and shared it within the ever-going network. In just a few weeks, Rodriguez had received more than $6,000 in donations. Those who may not have even known Rodriguez came forward to help a fellow Cardinal.
"The help from everyone has been great," Rodriguez said. "My teammates, my coaches and everyone can't be thanked enough."
