Columnist Ron Kantowski: Pepperdine job pleases Rodriguez to nth degree

Friday, June 20, 2003 | 10:25 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

The biggest problem most college baseball All-Americans encounter after leaving school following their junior year is how to hit a curveball. But I always thought that would be easy compared to going back to school and getting your degree after your playing career was over.

Steve Rodriguez, a 1988 graduate of Las Vegas' Valley High School, learned how to hit a curve well enough to sip a couple of cups of major-league coffee with the Red Sox and Tigers in 1995.

But it was his decision to return to school after his playing career that enabled him to climb a major hill of beans on Wednesday when he was named head baseball coach at his alma mater, Pepperdine University.

It is a big opportunity for Rodriguez, who is only 32. Pepperdine is considered a solid second-rung program on the big-time college baseball ladder, having been good enough to win a College World Series in 1992.

Without Rodriguez, it's doubtful that NCAA championship banner would be flying over Eddy D. Field Stadium on the Malibu campus. He hit a grand slam to lift the Waves to a semifinal victory against Texas and his late-inning defensive gem preserved a 3-2 win against Cal State Fullerton in the championship game.

Those heroics, combined with his four-year stint as a Pepperdine assistant, probably were the biggest factors in Rodriguez getting his spikes in the door when veteran coach Frank Sanchez took a permanent medical leave of absence June 5.

But without that piece of parchment hanging in his den, chances are Rodriguez still would be hitting infield fungoes as an assistant. Which, if nothing else, shows that every once in a while, parents do know what they're talking about.

Although I've never seen a kid "poke his eye out" by running with a sharp object, Rodriguez is exhibit A that staying in school -- or at least going back to it -- can pay off.

Rodriguez said his folks, who still live in Las Vegas along with the rest of his immediate family, were ecstatic when he made the commitment to finish what he started more than 10 years ago.

"It was one of the hardest things I've ever done," he said Thursday as he drove around the Pepperdine campus on his first full day as a college head coach. "At the time, we lived 90 miles away from campus -- my wife was teaching in the Riverside area -- and I would make the commute and get home after midnight every night."

Rodriguez said it's hard enough to finish a year and a half of schooling once you've been out for 10 years without any other life commitments. But trying to do it with a wife and two kids was tougher than moving the runners along against Fullerton pitching.

"If I had to do it over again, I would have taken more classes when I was at Pepperdine (as a player)," he said. "I was the typical guinea pig -- 12 units and a baseball player. That will bite you in the rear if you don't watch it."

That's probably what happened to Rodriguez two years ago when he applied for the UNLV job that went to Jim Schlossnagle. Without a degree, his baseball knowledge simply didn't count as much.

"Schlossnagle is well qualified and a good coach," Rodriguez said, "so I can't say that's the reason I didn't get it. But having an education is a big issue."

As a middle infielder, he has always considered himself a student of the game. But Rodriguez, who helped Pepperdine compile a 126-51-5 record (.706) during his three years as a player in Malibu, also has become quite a student after the game. He is scheduled to receive his master's degree in education technology from Pepperdine in July.

While I'm not sure to what degree his degrees will impress recruits, don't be surprised if Rodriguez becomes a factor on the local recruiting trail which he started blazing as a Pepperdine assistant.

This year, Chris Kelly, a shortstop from Durango High, hit .337 to top Pepperdine in batting average. Kelly's younger brother, Danny, got into 13 games as a freshman and Brandon Boesch, a starting pitcher from Bishop Gorman, was 7-5 for the Waves, with an outstanding 2.83 earned-run average.

"I was there last weekend, if that tells you anything about whether we plan to recruit Las Vegas kids," Rodriguez said. "I know they're used to a lot of sand, but we want to show them the kind that's on the beach."

Pepperdine was 36-25 this year and received an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. So the talent is there. And Pepperdine's location should help Rodriguez attract even more.

Although I've never been to Paradise, were it not for the palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze and the spray of the Pacific surf, you could probably see it from Pepperdine's hillside campus. Pam Anderson lives just down the hill from the baseball stadium, so no matter what you've heard, not all the pretty girls in Malibu are named Barbie.

And Rodriguez is proof that not all the sharp guys are named Ken. And Pepperdine's location should help Rodriguez attract even more.