Former Dodgers Draft Pick Dies of Cancer
It has become part of franchise lore that Mike Piazza was not the first catcher selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 draft. The future Hall of Famer was the last player the Dodgers took at any position.
Hector Ortiz, chosen in the 35th round, was the only other catcher from the Dodgers’ 1988 draft class to reach the majors. He appeared in parts of four seasons (1998-2002) with the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers, and enjoyed a fairly long post-playing career as a coach in the Rangers’ organization.
Ortiz died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer, the Rangers announced.
Ortiz advanced as high as Triple-A in two separate stints with the Dodgers organization. Although he was bypassed by Piazza on the organizational depth chart, Ortiz caught many future Dodgers pitchers at the Triple-A level in 1994 and 1995.
After the 1995 season, Ortiz was not re-signed as a minor league free agent and latched on with the Chicago Cubs. After briefly appearing in the major leagues with the Royals in 1998, Ortiz re-signed with the Dodgers for the 1999 season. He split that year between Double-A and Triple-A, playing alongside future Dodgers Eric Gagne, Paul Lo Duca, Juan Castro and Alex Cora, among others.
As the manager of the Class-A Hickory Crawdads in 2009, Ortiz oversaw the development of three future Dodgers pitchers: Joe Wieland, Fabio Castillo, and Wilmer Font.
When Chris Woodward left the Dodgers to manage the Texas Rangers in 2019, he named Ortiz his first base coach, retaining Ortiz in a role he’d held since 2015.
Dodgers Nation sends its condolences to Ortiz’s family and friends.
Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
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