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The best pitcher you never heard of: Maels Rodriguez, founder of ‘100 MPH Club’

By Yusseff Diaz

Upcoming Cuban player relief pitcher Maels Rodriguez makes a throw during his team's game against Mexico at the Panamerican games in Winnipeg, Canada 25 July 1999. He has reportedly had his throw clocked at 98 mph. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT (Photo by Roberto SCHMIDT / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Upcoming Cuban player relief pitcher Maels Rodriguez makes a throw during his team's game against Mexico at the Panamerican games in Winnipeg, Canada 25 July 1999. He has reportedly had his throw clocked at 98 mph. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT (Photo by Roberto SCHMIDT / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Adam Pretty /Getty Images)
(Photo by Adam Pretty /Getty Images) /

Maels Rodriguez was one of the most dominating pitchers of his time. Now, the founder of the ‘100 MPH Club’ is passing on his skills to a new generation.

HIALEAH,FL-Maels Rodriguez is undoubtedly a legend in the Cuban National Series. The native of Villa Clara, Cuba was the first pitcher in Cuban League history to eclipse triple digits on the radar gun when he accomplished the feat on December 8, 1999 in a Serie Nacional game.

The Villa Clara franchise deemed the hurler to small to pitch and that he ended up pitching for Sancti Spiritus and this is were the legend begins.

Not only did he throw some serious heat, but he also had a 92 mph slider to accompany his hardball. In Serie Nacional XXXIX he led the tournament with 263 K’s in 178.1 innings.

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In his six seasons in Cuba, he had a record of 65- 45 and struck out 1148 strikeouts in 938 innings. Maels Rodriguez also posted an ERA of 2.29 and batters hit .177 against him.

In the 2000 Olympics as a member of the Cuban National Team, he struck out 22 batters and held the US scoreless in 4 2/3 innings in the gold medal game. Although Cuba lost 4-0 to the Americans in that game he fanned seven.

Arm injuries prevented him from ever signing after his defection.

Currently, the hurler runs an academy called the “100 MPH Club” where he trains kids on the art of pitching. During the off-season he worked with Major league pitcher Yoan López, passing on his wisdom to the young flamethrower.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Maels Rodriguez. This is what he had to say.

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