Quintanilla, Rodriguez headline El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024
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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Former Major League Baseball players Omar Quintanilla and Fernando Rodriguez are the headlining members of the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 that was announced on Wednesday morning.
Joining Quintanilla in the Hall of Fame in 2024 will be Charles Heist, Hector R. Bernal Jr. The induction ceremony will be held Aug. 18 in El Paso.
An All-State player for Socorro High School, Quintanilla won the 2002 NCAA Championship at the University of Texas, then was a first-round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics in 2003.
He made his MLB debut with the Colorado Rockies in 2009, eventually playing nine total seasons in the Big Leagues with the Rockies, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets.
Rodriguez starred at Franklin High School, then for a season at El Paso Community College, before getting drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in 2003. He made his MLB debut in 2009 against the New York Yankees, ultimately playing six seasons in MLB. He also played for the hometown El Paso Chihuahuas in 2019 and EPCC retired his jersey number that same year.
Heist was an all-District selection at Eastwood, then played at UTEP during the 1983 and 1984 seasons, hitting .375 and .386, respectively, in each of those seasons. He was also an all-conference selection for the Miners, before going on to play professionally in the Kansas City Royals and Montreal Expos organizations.
Bernal Jr. was an all-District and all-City player at Hanks, then played at EPCC from 2004-2006, leading the Tejanos in hits and batting average. After his college career was over, he played professionally for a few different teams in independent leagues, including the El Paso Diablos in 2008.
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