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Gear, reports
stolen from pro
baseball scout

Thieves at Sandy Beach
'got me good,' says
major-league talent scout
Corey Rodriguez

By Jaymes K. Song
Star-Bulletin

Corey Rodriguez arrived in Honolulu Thursday to see the islands' best high school and college baseball players.

But his job as a major-league baseball scout just got a little harder: His radar gun, scouting reports and contact numbers were stolen from his car yesterday at Sandy Beach.

"They got me good," he said this morning from his Waikiki hotel.

Rodriguez, a scout for a National League club, visited Sandy Beach yesterday as he normally does every time he visits Hawaii.

While jogging on the beach at about 8:45 a.m., thieves punched out the door lock to his rental car and grabbed everything they could, including the radar gun he uses to clock the throwing speed of pitchers.

The Jugs radar gun was inside a hard black case a little larger than a briefcase, Rodriguez said.

They also took a black bag containing his wallet, cellular phone, sunglasses and windbreaker.

While reordering credit cards, obtaining some money and having a temporary identification card may be a big hassle, it's his radar gun, scouting reports and contact list that are most important to him.

"It's valuable to my work," he said of the radar gun. "It has no value to anybody besides baseball scouts and police officers."

Rodriguez planned to watch a lot of baseball on Oahu and the neighbor islands.

He still will, but without his equipment and reports, it will be harder to evaluate the talent.

If anyone sees his stolen items, calls can be made to police, or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.