Where Are They Now? - Part 1 - Richie Rodarmel
(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, B.C.) - In 2000, the Canadians of the Northwest League replaced the Canadians of the Pacific Coast League and selling the Class-A Affiliate had its challenges. Led by manager Dave Joppie, hitting coach Billy Owens and pitching coach Jim Coffman, the Canadians trotted out a respectable team that had 2nd round standout SS Freddie Bynum, a highly-regarded middle infielder who would eventually find his way to the Major Leagues along with OF Marshall McDougall.
On the first ever Canadians Short-Season roster was a hard throwing pitcher named Richie Rodarmel who was selected in the 40th round of the MLB June Amateur Draft, now known as the MLB First-Year Player Draft, and signed immediately with the Oakland Athletics as a senior out of Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.
The 5'10" pitcher had tough stuff to hit, although he had a lot of innings already on his arm from his time at the collegiate level so manager Dave Joppie opted for the bullpen where he would make 18 appearances and put some pretty impressive numbers up. A 1-0 record with a 1.17 ERA and 33 strikeouts in just 23 innings of work had the A's thinking they may have stolen a solid arm in the late rounds of the draft. His 10 saves were a team high as Vancouver went 40-36 in 2000.
Rodarmel would pitch the following year in Visalia as the A's promoted him to the California League, but the numbers he put up in Vancouver did not translate to the higher level as he would pitch in just two games for the A's going 0-0 with an 11.57 ERA. The injury bug bit and soon after Oakland would lose faith in the right-hander and eventually Rodarmel would get released. A pretty tough fate for a pitcher who just a year earlier was a force at the back of the Canadians bullpen.
Fast forward nearly 14 calendar years and today you can find Rich selling at Allstate Financial in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, home of the Little League World Series. He also coaches a team within the Loyalsock Township Little League with a team that bears his name (Rodarmel Insurance).
At age 37, Rodarmel is now more than a decade removed from his time out at Nat Bailey Stadium. One would assume that he is just as good closing deals on insurance as he was closing games here in Vancouver back in 2000.
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