Ezra Quintanilla

Ezra Quintanilla played shortstop the way a conductor leads an orchestra, with a calm that spread across the entire Ventura infield. Scouts came for the glove and stayed for the way he turned routine ground balls into small works of art.

He batted leadoff for the Vaqueros and set a tone of patience and pressure, forcing pitchers to throw strikes and daring catchers to keep him honest on the bases.

By the time he moved on, the Vaqueros had become synonymous with disciplined, fundamentally sound baseball, a reputation Quintanilla built one flawless summer at a time.