Wyvern Baseball’s Biggest Fan - QCC Deputy Chief Rodriguez

QCC Campus Police Deputy Chief of Administration Reynaldo Rodriguez, an avid baseball fan and amateur photographer, has spent over 10 years going to virtually every Wyverns Men’s Baseball games, taking photos of the players in action. He said it all started when he began looking at the team’s page on the college website and thought it might be nice to get some photos of the players in action. He reached out to QCC’s Director of Athletics & Fitness Center Lisa Gurnick, who was delighted to have additional photos.

“It’s everywhere (baseball). I just enjoy it. Life is like baseball, every game is different. Like life, you practice, but it doesn’t always work out the way you think it will,” he said.

What began as a simple gesture of getting more baseball photos for the website, has evolved into a passion that shows no signs of slowing down. Mr. Rodriguez has become a virtual fixture at the Wyverns games and is often seen sitting with the team on the bench. There were even times when he was not taking pictures, he was keeping score of the same.

While he has not played since his Little League days, Mr. Rodriguez said baseball is truly in his blood. He is a Worcester Bravehearts season ticket holder, taking pictures of the players in much the same way as he does the Wyverns.  In fact, baseball and photography are so ingrained in him that often he will find games virtually anywhere he goes. He also has a vast baseball card collection that shows players from the 1970s to present day and while that may not seem unique, what is special is the type and way he collects his cards.

“I collect them not by the player, but by the picture… the action shots. I’ve got an eye for it,” he said.

Collecting these type of action shot baseball cards also helped him to hone his own photography skills. Today he takes photos with a digital Canon Rebel, a far cry from the film camera he used to use. He said the hardest photo to get is a shot of a baseball in flight and is always trying to get that elusive photo where you can even see the seams.

“I’m always looking for that million dollar shot,” he said.

According to Mr. Rodriguez, he first began his sojourn into photography around 2004 when he took up, what he calls, “Monument Hunting.”

“I’ve taken photos of hundreds of civil war monuments in Massachusetts. I call it ‘Monument Hunting’ because they don’t move and are easy to capture on film. I collected old postcards and searched libraries and traveled to various town commons or cemeteries to hunt them down,” he said.

Mr. Rodriguez is a civil war aficionado and has regularly marched in the Worcester Memorial Day Parade and Veteran’s Day parade, with Willie Grout Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. It is an organization he has been involved in for 15 years.

“In 2016 as a member of the group and the City of Worcester’s G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic Board), we took part in the refurbishing and then the rededication of the Civil War Monument located on the Worcester Common,” he added.

Rest assured whatever he is photographing will be special, just like QCC's own Deputy Chief.