Mother of Vigilantes’ Rodgers Dies in Crash

The mother of Vigilante Manager Buck Rodgers was killed in a car accident Friday in Ohio.

Rodgers, the former Angels manager who returned to baseball this season with the Mission Viejo minor league team, left the Vigilantes, who are in Reno, to be with his family in Ohio.

Winifred M. Rodgers was killed when the car in which she was a passenger collided with a pick-up truck about 40 miles north of Columbus, Ohio, according to dispatchers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. She was 80.

A white 1995 Ford Ranger pickup headed southbound on State Route 203 in Delaware County, Ohio, swerved into the oncoming traffic, forcing Rex Rodgers, 81, to drive off the road and into a ditch, officials said.

Rex Rodgers, who was driving a blue 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis, was taken to Grady Hospital in Delaware, Ohio, where he was listed in stable condition. Winifred Rodgers died at the scene. Both were wearing seat belts, officials said.

They were on their way home from their 60th wedding anniversary party when the accident occurred.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, said dispatcher Kelly Weakley of Ohio State Highway Patrol in Delaware County. The truck’s 43-year-old driver and 37-year-old passenger were flown to Grant Hospital in Columbus, she said.

Brad Lesley managed the Vigilantes Saturday night in a 13-6 loss to the Chukars. Team officials do not know when Rodgers will rejoin the team.