Dave Rohde, Millennium Hall of Fame

Baseball for Dave Rohde meant mostly diamonds at the end of each

season.

Only the second former Corona del Mar High player to reach the major

leagues, Rohde, an infielder who played for Houston and Cleveland, spent

most of his career celebrating.

From a CIF Southern Section 2-A championship in high school to the

NCAA title at the College World Series for the University of Arizona,

Rohde had the best of both worlds as an amateur.

A junior third baseman and pitcher who batted second in the lineup in

1981 when CdM Coach Tom Trager’s squad captured the school’s first CIF

baseball championship, Rohde was also a member of Saddleback College’s

conference-winning team in 1983.

Before the Astros selected him in the fifth round of the June draft in

1986, Rohde was the starting shortstop for Arizona’s title team.

“There’s no better thrill than winning a championship,” Rohde said

from his home in Denver.

Rohde played 10 years of professional baseball from 1986 to 1995, and

the winning continued. In 1991, Rohde helped the Tucson Toros, the

Astros’ triple-A affiliate, win the Pacific Coast League title, batting

.372 during the season and .352 in the playoffs. His regular-season

average established a Tucson record. The next year, after being traded

from the Astros to Cleveland, Rohde batted .295 and helped the Colorado

Springs Sky Sox capture their first PCL championship.

“Being part of a championship team, whether it’s high school or

college or pro ball, is what you take away from baseball,” said Rohde,

who was traded along with Kenny Lofton to the Indians for pitcher Willie

Blair and catcher Eddie Taubensee before the ’92 season.

Rohde spent over 190 days in the big leagues, first with the Astros in

1990 and ‘91, then with Cleveland in 1993. He never got a chance to play

every day, but Rohde made the most of his opportunities as a utility

player.

Once, with Houston in 1990, Rohde went 3 for 3 and scored the game’s

only run as ace right-hander Mike Scott pitched a shutout in a 1-0

victory over Frank Viola and the Mets. Rohde accounted for half of

Houston’s hit total that night and was given Player of the Game honors.

“It was just exciting to go to every ballpark. Growing up as a kid,

you’re always dreaming about playing in the major leagues,” Rohde said.

“You’re always dreaming about playing in those stadiums.”

Rohde, who also played in the Pittsburgh organization in 1992, when he

met Pirates Manager Jim Leyland, enjoyed St. Louis the most in his

National League tour, because of “the environment and fans there, who are

very knowledgeable. They appreciate good baseball.”

Rohde, the second CdM baseball player to make the big leagues

following former pitcher Matt Keough, also liked San Diego’s Jack Murphy

Stadium and, of course, Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

“Every park had a unique attraction,” said Rohde, whose time in the

American League was too brief to formulate traveling opinions.

In the sunset of his career, Rohde returned to Tucson, the Astros’

triple-A club. Rohde met his wife, Tammy, in Tucson when she worked in

public relations for the Toros.

Rohde batted .282 in nine years of pro ball before serving as a backup

infielder in his final year at Tucson, where he made his home at the

time.

Rohde (CdM Class of ‘82) said he was “kind of a filler” on the ’81 CIF

title team under Trager, but the coach viewed him a different way.

“We had an excellent club that year,” Trager once told the Los Angeles

Times. “(Rohde) was a line-drive hitter, always a good hitter. He could

run. Had an outstanding high school arm. A very quiet kid, but coachable

and an excellent student. If I had nine of those every year, (former

Dodger Manager Tommy) Lasorda would have to move over.”

Again, it was the field of dreams that made the biggest impression on

Rohde when the Sea Kings, led by Jeff Pries and Ken Santoro, defeated

Santa Fe, 3-2, at Anaheim Stadium for the 2-A championship.

“That was incredible going there and stepping on the field,” Rohde

said. “It was just immaculate. I’d never seen dirt or grass that well

kept up. There was nobody at the game, but I think it was one of my

biggest thrills.”

A two-year varsity baseball player, Rohde said his basketball career

at CdM ended after his freshman year, when Coach Paul Orris frowned upon

him “shooting three-pointers when there was no three-point line.”

Rohde, who now enjoys Colorado’s change of seasons and works for the

accounting firm Arthur Andersen, is a member of the Daily Pilot Sports

Hall of Fame, celebrating the millennium.

Rohde, who said his parents, Paul and Marge, were huge supporters for

him, lived in Tucson and his wife is from Cheyenne, Wyo., so they decided

to settle in the middle in Denver. They have a son, Tucker, and are

expecting their second child around Thanksgiving.