![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/rodriguez2-feb16.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When Baylor baseball<\/a> takes the field tonight to open the 2016 season, it will mark the debut of new head coach Steve Rodriguez<\/a>. Here’s what you should know about\u00a0\u201cCoach Rod,\u201d the man who was tabbed last June to become just the fourth head baseball coach at Baylor since 1961:<\/p>\n A winner as a player:<\/strong> Despite routinely being one of the smaller players on the field, a young Rodriguez proved he was one of the best (as this 1991 Los Angeles Times<\/em> article<\/a> noted). Rodriguez won three state titles as a high school player in his native Las Vegas before becoming an All-American second baseman at Pepperdine. He forever etched his name into College World Series lore when he hit a seventh-inning grand slam<\/a>\u00a0to propel Pepperdine to a dramatic 5-4 win over Texas, a victory that helped lead the Waves to the 1992 national championship.<\/p>\n A big leaguer:<\/strong> Rodriguez was selected\u00a0in the fifth round of the 1992 draft by the Boston Red Sox. He reached the big leagues<\/a> in 1995 and played in 18 games for the Red Sox and Detroit Tigers. Overall, he spent seven seasons in professional baseball in the Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles Dodgers and Montreal Expos organizations before moving on to coaching in 1998.<\/p>\n A winner as a coach:<\/strong> Rodriguez became known as \u201cCoach Rod\u201d at his alma mater, Pepperdine, where he spent the last 12 seasons as head coach of their successful baseball team. He amassed a 401-300 record in Malibu, and his Waves teams routinely knocked off much larger programs to earn a stellar reputation throughout the college baseball community. Pepperdine won\u00a0five West Coast Conference regular season championships and five WCC championship series\/tournament titles and earned eight regional appearances and one super regional appearance during his time at the helm.<\/p>\n A Baylor dad:<\/strong> Coach Rod\u2019s ascension to Baylor was actually foreshadowed months before he was hired. His daughter, Julia (now a freshman apparel design major at Baylor) visited Baylor in October 2014 while still making her college decision. For Rodriguez, the trip to accompany her at Baylor was also a chance to visit an old friend — the former dean of Pepperdine Law School, Ken Starr. President\u00a0Starr and Coach Rod\u2019s relationship goes back a decade, when Judge Starr, much like here at Baylor, was a fan and proponent of Pepperdine\u2019s athletic teams. The Rodriguez family also caught a memorable football game on campus — the 61-58 win over TCU. Eight months later, the Rodriguez family was Baylor-bound.<\/p>\n A celebrity:<\/strong> Coach Rod has only been at Baylor a few months, but he\u2019s already become a fixture at Baylor sporting events, even moshing in the Bear Pit<\/a>\u00a0during the men\u2019s basketball team\u2019s overtime\u00a0win over Iowa State Tuesday night. He also turned up on an episode of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper<\/a>” earlier this month, coaching Chip Gaines on how to throw out the first pitch at a Texas Rangers game. He\u2019s also a friend of celebrities, many of whom became fans of his program in Malibu. His Twitter feed (@BaylorCoachRod<\/a>) turned heads last June when celebrities like Toby Keith<\/a>\u00a0and Reggie Miller<\/a> congratulated him on the move to Baylor.<\/p>\n