CHICAGO – Emma Rodriguez has become one of the centers of the White Sox universe thanks to the 24-year-old temporarily being part of Jake Rogers’ neighborhood.
Rodriguez, who resides 20 miles from Rate Field in the South Suburbs of Chicago, picked up Rogers’ walk-off home run to left-center Friday night, as the catcher’s second hit with the White Sox gave them a thrilling 6-4 victory over the Mets. It was the team’s 10th walk-off amid this special 2026 season, done by eight players.
It also was Rogers’ first walk-off hit as a Major Leaguer. Rodriguez didn’t catch the ball on the fly, picking it up off the ground after having it pointed out by a White Sox worker. But her fame grew exponentially as she picked the ball up and began to celebrate. As she jumped up and down, her purse emptied around her in the Rate Field stands.
Everything important was retrieved, as Rodriguez told MLB.com by phone Saturday evening before going to work at The Alley Grill and Tap House in Mokena, Ill.
“It’s a Coach purse, if Coach wants to send me another one that zips up and doesn’t open when I jump up and down,” the upbeat Rodriguez said with a laugh. “I think I got at least 10 texts immediately just before the game even totally ended, and before I walked out of the stadium.
“Then this morning I woke up and realized I was viral on basically every social media platform. My entire family was texting me, friends from high school.”
Rogers also was entertained by Rodriguez’s moment of White Sox fame. She reached out to the veteran catcher with a request to sign the baseball, and with the special meaning of this particular hit, Rogers asked if a trade could be made to retrieve the memento.
Friendly conversations for the trade-off resulted in Rodriguez getting a signed bat, signed ball and signed jersey from Rogers, and Rogers receiving the original walk-off baseball. Rodriguez returned to the ballpark for Sunday’s series finale against the Mets, hoping to bring the team similar good fortune as Friday.
“Anything Sox-signed would be great. Anything Sox merch,” Rodriguez said. “The ball obviously means a hell of a lot more to him than it does to me. So, he said that we could do some trading and I’ll give him his ball back.”
“She was going nuts, which I think a lot of guys were,” Rogers said. “Such a cool moment last night. It was my first walk-off in The Show. It was a special moment.”
Friday’s connection off the exuberant Jefry Yan punctuated a crazy August for Rogers. The 31-year-old catcher was traded from Detroit to Baltimore on July 30, then he was traded with Adley Rutschman from Baltimore to Boston on Aug. 3, before being designated for assignment on Aug. 11 by the Red Sox. He was claimed off waivers by the White Sox on Aug. 14.
With at least one hit for four teams this season, Rogers’ attitude has been outstanding through the moves and machinations involved.
“I tell a lot of people, you gotta have fun with it. You never know your situation,” Rogers said. “My situation is very rare and very crazy. I try to go out and have fun and do my job to the best of my ability. I think it’s definitely been a hell of an August. It’s been crazy, truthfully. But honestly, all the teams I’ve been on have been good groups of guys, and the staffs have been great.”
As a strong White Sox fan, whose boyfriend is an even bigger White Sox fan, Rodriguez has attended many games this season. She almost passed on Friday when her boyfriend got called into work, but when she found out a few of her friends were going, Rodriguez got on the train and decided not to miss Elvis Night.
That decision has brought viral stardom to her world.
“Actually, a couple of my friends were just saying how cool it is to know somebody that’s famous,” said Rodriguez, who also heard from a number of media members to tell her story Saturday. “My friends are loving it for me: ‘This is awesome and we are so happy for you.’
“A lot of positive feedback from, seriously, everybody. It’s actually really nice.”