Iván Rodríguez
Iván Rodríguez | |||||||||||||||||
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Catcher | |||||||||||||||||
Born: Manatí, Puerto Rico | November 27, 1971|||||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||||
MLB debut | |||||||||||||||||
June 20, 1991, for the Texas Rangers | |||||||||||||||||
Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||||
September 28, 2011, for the Washington Nationals | |||||||||||||||||
MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||||
Batting average | .296 | ||||||||||||||||
Hits | 2,844 | ||||||||||||||||
Home runs | 311 | ||||||||||||||||
Runs batted in | 1,332 | ||||||||||||||||
Teams | |||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||
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Member of the National | |||||||||||||||||
Baseball Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||||
Induction | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
Vote | 76.0% (first ballot) | ||||||||||||||||
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Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge"[1] and "I-Rod",[2] is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball catcher. A member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Rodríguez is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in MLB history. He played for the Texas Rangers (in two separate stints, comprising the majority of his career), Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals.
Rodríguez was awarded the
Rodríguez recorded 2844 hits in his career, the most of any catcher in MLB history.
In 2017, Rodríguez was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility, receiving 76% of the votes cast.
After retiring from baseball, he served as a Shadow Representative from Puerto Rico.
Early life
Rodríguez was born in Manatí, Puerto Rico and raised in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. His father, José was his baseball coach[4] and his mother, Eva Torres, was an elementary school teacher.[5] Iván's first job involved delivering flyers in the shopping malls in Puerto Rico.[6]
He learned baseball at an early age, his biggest rival being
His favorite player growing up was Johnny Bench, even before he was changed to the catcher position. The reason for this was that, according to Rodríguez, the Big Red Machine teams for whom Bench played were constantly on TV in Puerto Rico, and he saw how good Bench was.[9] Rodríguez attended Lino Padron Rivera High School, where he was discovered by scout Luis Rosa. Rosa reported that "He showed leadership at 16 that I'd seen in few kids. He knew where he was going."[5] Rodríguez signed a contract with the Texas Rangers in July 1988, at the age of 16, and began his professional baseball career.[5]
Professional career
Minor leagues
Rodríguez made his professional debut in 1989 at the age of 17 as catcher for the
I got my nickname on the very first day of camp. Chino Cadahia, who was a Rangers coach at the time, gave me that name. He saw that I was short and stocky, so, from Day One, he started calling me "Pudge." It caught on, and the rest is history.
— Ivan Rodríguez, in how he got his “Pudge” nickname
At the beginning of the 1991 season, Rodriguez played 50 games with the
Texas Rangers (1991–2002)
Making his debut with the
In 1992, Rodríguez started 112 games behind the plate and was the youngest player in the major leagues for the second year in a row. Playing in the Puerto Rico Winter League, he had a .262
Playing for the Rangers during the 1995 season, Rodríguez led his team in batting, total bases, and doubles, at .303, 221, and 32 respectively. He was named the Texas Rangers' player of the year. Rodríguez also had his first multi-home run game while playing the Boston Red Sox on July 13, hitting both off All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens. He also played for Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League during the offseason.[10]
In 1996, Rodríguez set an MLB record for most doubles by a catcher, amassing 47 over the course of the season. This broke the previous mark of 42, set by
In the 1998 season, Rodríguez led the Texas Rangers in batting average at .325, which placed eighth in the
In 1999, Rodríguez was selected as the American League MVP. He set a new American League record for home runs in a single season among catchers with 35. Rodríguez was also the first catcher to have more than 30 home runs, 100 runs batted in, and 100 runs scored in the history of Major League Baseball. In addition, he holds the distinction of being the first catcher in the history of the league to amass more than 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. From May 8 to June 1, 1999, Rodríguez had a career-high 20-game hitting streak. He had 25 stolen bases, which was fifth most among catchers in the history of the league. He led the league in times grounded into a double play, with 31. Rodríguez was only the ninth catcher in the history of Major League Baseball to win the Most Valuable Player award, and he was the first to win it since Thurman Munson in 1976. He was named on all of the ballots, getting seven first place votes and six second place votes. Rodríguez was the sixth Puerto Rican to win the award, and the fourth player from the Texas Rangers to win it. He also won the Silver Slugger Award for the sixth time in a row and was selected Most Valuable Player by Baseball Digest. He was again named to all-star teams by the Associated Press, The Sporting News, and Baseball America.[10] While he was hitting home runs, he rarely drew walks. He is one of only six players active in 2009 who have had at least 30 home runs in a season in which they had more homers than walks (34 home runs, 24 walks in 1999). The others are Alfonso Soriano (39–23 in 2002, 36–33 in 2005, 33–31 in 2007), Garret Anderson (35–24 in 2000), Ryan Braun (34–29 in 2007), Joe Crede (30–28 in 2006), and José Guillén (31–24 in 2003).[13]
In 2000, Rodríguez suffered a season-ending injury in a game against the
Rodríguez returned to full action in 2001 and had another all-star season. He was selected to his ninth straight
Rodríguez's final year in his first stint with the Texas Rangers came in 2002. His .314 batting average was seventh best among American League players. This was his eighth season in a row with batting average of .300 or above. He also had 32 doubles, two triples, and 60 runs batted in while playing in 108 games for the Rangers. Rodríguez was placed on the
Florida Marlins (2003)
On January 22, 2003, Rodríguez signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Florida Marlins.[14] By then a major-league veteran of over a decade, he helped lead the young team to victory in the World Series.[10] During the 2003 regular season, he set many Marlins single season records for a catcher, such as batting average, at .297, and runs batted in, at 85. On March 31, Rodríguez became the tenth Marlins player ever to hit a home run in the team's first game of the season. On April 8, he set a Marlins single game record by drawing five walks in a game against the New York Mets.
He had a nine-game
Detroit Tigers (2004–2008)
Before the 2004 season, Rodríguez signed a four-year, $40 million contract with the
Prior to the 2005 season,
Despite the off-season controversy, the 2005 season turned out to be another All-Star year for Rodríguez. He was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game for the 12th time in his career, and he participated in the Century 21 Home Run Derby on the day before the All-Star game, finishing second to Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies in his home stadium of Comerica Park. For the season, he batted .276 with 14 home runs and 50 runs batted in.[10] On October 26, 2005, Major League Baseball named him the catcher on their Latino Legends Team.
In 2006, Rodríguez returned to throwing out runners attempting to steal a base at a very high percentage, as he did in his earlier career; he was first in the league in this category, throwing out 45.7 percent of all runners attempting to steal a base.
On April 16, 2007, he batted in six runs on the way to a 12–5 victory over the Kansas City Royals. On June 12 he caught Justin Verlander's first no-hitter, the second no-hitter he caught in his career. In 2007, Rodríguez walked in only 1.8 percent of his plate appearances, the lowest percentage in the major leagues.[25] On October 9, the Tigers announced that they were picking up the fifth-year, $13 million option on Rodríguez's contract, keeping him on the Tigers team through at least the 2008 season. The team could have bought out the option for $3 million and allowed him to become a free agent.
In spring training in 2008 he led the major leagues with eight home runs. On April 10 against Boston, he got his 2,500th hit.[26][27]
New York Yankees (2008)
On July 30, 2008, Rodríguez was traded to the New York Yankees for relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth after starting Yankee catcher Jorge Posada had season-ending surgery.[28] While Rodríguez wanted to leave Detroit due to Tigers manager Jim Leyland's decision to use rotating catchers, he wound up sharing catching duties with back-up Yankee catcher José Molina, starting only 26 of the remaining 55 games of the 2008 season. With his customary number 7 having been retired by the Yankees for Mickey Mantle, Rodríguez changed his jersey number to 12. He finished the year with a .278 batting average with his time on the Yankees being his worst part of the season.
Return to Puerto Rican League
In preparation for the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Rodríguez returned to the Puerto Rico Baseball League (formerly LBPPR) during the offseason, following ten years of absence.[29] Playing for the Criollos de Caguas, he gathered a batting average of .370 with three runs batted in and one home run in six games during the regular season. Upon leaving the team on vacation, Rodríguez noted that his intention was to return to action if the Criollos advanced to the playoffs.[30] He returned to action in a "sudden death" game for the final postseason space, but the team lost and was eliminated. On January 8, 2008, the Leones de Ponce reclaimed Rodríguez in the last turn of a special post-season draft, where players from eliminated teams were selected to reinforce those that qualified.[31] In the first week of December 2009, Rodríguez re-joined the Criollos de Caguas in the PRBL.[32]
Houston Astros (2009)
On March 20, 2009, Rodríguez signed a one-year deal worth $1.5 million with the Houston Astros. Rodríguez was given the opportunity to make an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses.[33] In a situation similar to his tenure with the Yankees, his customary number 7 had been retired by the Astros in honor of Craig Biggio, so Rodríguez initially wore jersey number 12, then later changed to number 77 mid-season.
On May 17, 2009, Rodríguez hit his 300th career home run off of
Second stint with Rangers (2009)
On August 18, 2009, Rodríguez was traded to the Texas Rangers for minor league reliever Matt Nevarez and two PTBNL.[36] Teammate David Murphy switched his uniform number to #14 so Rodríguez could wear the #7 he previously wore with the Rangers.[36] In his first game back with the Rangers, Rodríguez went 3-for-4 with an RBI double and two singles.[37] He hit his first home run with the Rangers since 2002 on August 29, a solo shot against Minnesota Twins reliever José Mijares.[38]
He finished the 2009 season ranked first in major league history with 13,910 putouts as a catcher, ahead of Brad Ausmus (12,671).[39]
Washington Nationals (2010–2011)
Following the 2009 season, Rodríguez filed for free agency, declining the Rangers' offer of salary arbitration.[40] On December 11, 2009, Rodríguez signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the Washington Nationals.[41]
Rodríguez hit his first home run as a member of the Nationals on May 6 against
Career statistics
In 2,543 games over 21 seasons, Rodríguez posted a .296
International career
World Baseball Classic (Puerto Rico)
Rodríguez represented Puerto Rico in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.[50] Rodríguez was one of several Major League Baseball players that committed to represent their birthplaces before the organization of the tournament. He also played for Puerto Rico in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and was named to the classic's All-World Baseball Classic team.
Retirement and honors
Rodríguez announced his retirement on April 18, 2012.[51][52] He signed a one-day contract with the Rangers on April 23, retiring as a member of the team. Rodríguez also threw out the ceremonial first pitch during the Rangers home game against the New York Yankees. Instead of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch from the mound, he went to his usual position behind the plate and threw from behind home plate to second base to Michael Young.[52] Rodríguez was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on February 27, 2014. He also joined FOX Sports Southwest in 2014 as an analyst for pre and postgame television coverage.[53]
In 2017, Rodríguez became eligible for induction into the
Rodriguez was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on July 30, 2017.[57] On August 12, 2017, the Rangers retired his jersey #7 with the team (and the opponent, Houston Astros) wearing throwback jerseys to the 1999 era in which Rodriguez played.[58]
In August 2017, Rodríguez was selected by then-Governor Ricardo Rosselló as one of Puerto Rico's five shadow representatives.[59] Before the start of Game 1 of the 2023 World Series, Former President of the United States George W. Bush threw the ceremonial first pitch to Rodríguez.[60]
Personal life
Rodríguez married Maribel Rivera on June 20, 1991. That same night, having been called up from double A (Rodriguez bypassed AAA) by the
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career at-bat leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career extra base hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career putouts as a catcher leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career putouts leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico
- List of second-generation Major League Baseball players
- List of Major League Baseball record holders
- Baseball in Puerto Rico
References
- ^ Eligon, John (May 25, 2005). "The Tigers' Rodriguez Is Now a Svelte Pudge". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
- ^ "Will I-Rod be first PED-suspected player to reach Cooperstown?". The Orange County Register. April 28, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
- ^ "Active Leaders & Records for Caught Stealing %". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ "En vivo: Padre de Iván Rodríguez recibe edición especial de 'Pudge' de revista Zona". El Vocero de Puerto Rico (in Spanish). August 9, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Puerto Rico Profile: Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez". Puerto Rico Herald. March 30, 2001. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Personal tid-bits". Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez Foundation. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- ^ Pillot Ortiz, Victor (January 18, 2017). "Iván Rodríguez lloró cuando le dijeron que tenía que ser "catcher"". El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ^ Sanchez, Jesse (September 6, 2005). "Who is the Greatest Latino Catcher?". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
- ^ Rodríguez, Ivan (January 16, 2017). "The Story of My Life". The Players' Tribune. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Ivan Rodriguez Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-671-76028-1.
- ^ "1991 American League Expanded Leaderboards". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 22, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
- ^ Stark, Jayson (May 22, 2009). "Jayson Stark: Raul Ibanez on a Sandwich Award-winning roll". ESPN. Archived from the original on May 29, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ "Marlins land Pudge Rodriguez for one-year, $10 million". ESPN. January 22, 2003. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ Beck, Jason (February 2, 2004). "Pudge signing to be announced". Detroit Tigers. MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
- ^ Beck, Jason (April 23, 2001). "Pudge earns AL Player of the Month". Detroit Tigers. MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ISBN 0-06-074640-8.
- ^ Cosgrove-Mather, Bootie (February 8, 2005). "Rodriguez Denies Using Steroids". CBS News. Archived from the original on February 15, 2005. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
- ^ a b "Svelte Pudge? Tigers catcher 22 pounds lighter". ESPN. February 21, 2005. Retrieved February 21, 2005.
- The Associated Press. December 13, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ a b Eligon, John (May 25, 2005). "The Tigers' Rodriguez Is Now a Svelte Pudge". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2005.
- ^ "Ivan Rodriguez sidesteps steroids talk before WBC camp". Sports Illustrated. CNN. February 16, 2009. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
- ^ Kerzel, Pete (May 9, 2006). "Notes: Pudge nudged to first". Detroit Tigers. MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved March 6, 2007.
- ^ "The 2006 Fielding Bible Awards". The Fielding Bible. Archived from the original on November 10, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
- ^ "Baseball Leaderboard". FanGraphs. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
- ^ "Iván Rodríguez statistics". MLB.com. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
- The Associated Press. April 10, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ "Yankees find their catcher for stretch, trade for Rodríguez". ESPN. July 30, 2008. Retrieved August 5, 2008.
- ^ "Regresa Iván Rodríguez a la pelota local". Primera Hora (in Spanish). December 11, 2008. Archived from the original on December 14, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
- ^ Carlos González (December 24, 2008). "Iván sólo dice 'hasta luego'". Primera Hora (in Spanish). Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
- ^ "Cuadrados los refuerzos para la semifinal". Primera Hora (in Spanish). 8 January 2009.
- ^ González, Carlos (December 2, 2009). "Todo un "fiebrú" Iván Rodríguez". Primera Hora (in Spanish). Retrieved December 2, 2009.
- ^ Footer, Alyson (March 20, 2009). "Pudge, Astros make deal official". Houston Astros. MLB.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
- The Associated Press. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ McTaggart, Brian (June 18, 2009). "Pudge sets record for games caught". Houston Astros. MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
- ^ The Associated Press. August 18, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ Paulling, Daniel (August 19, 2009). "Twins' rally spoils Pudge's return in Texas". Texas Rangers. MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ "Hamilton, Kinsler lift Feldman, Rangers past Twins". ESPN. August 29, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ Gurnick, Ken (January 26, 2010). "Ausmus comes to terms with Dodgers; Backstop agrees on one-year deal with option for 2011". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on February 19, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ Sullivan, T.R. (December 7, 2009). "Byrd, Rodriguez decline arbitration". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ^ Ladson, Bill (December 11, 2009). "Nats welcome Pudge to DC". Washington Nationals. MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2010. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
- ^ "Olsen takes no-hitter into 8th, Harris' single in ninth helps Nats escape". ESPN. May 6, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ "Kennedy, Zimmerman go deep as Nats drop division rival". ESPN. May 10, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ Gleeman, Aaron (May 24, 2010). "Back injury sends Ivan Rodriguez to disabled list". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Pudge Rodriguez is about to put the Nationals in the Hall of Fame for the first time". The Washington Post. 2017-07-27. Archived from the original on 2020-10-11.
- ^ Stark, Jayson (June 9, 2010). "Washington Nationals Stephen Strasburg makes the impossible possible – ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- ^ Sheinin, Dave (June 9, 2010). "Pitcher Stephen Strasburg makes his major league debut for Washington Nationals". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
- ^ Zuckerman, Mark (April 12, 2011). "Rodriguez will share Nats' catching duties". CNS Washington. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ "Ivan Rodriguez Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
- ^ "Puerto Rico Roster". World Baseball Classic. MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 9, 2006. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
- ^ "Ivan Rodriguez set to retire". ESPN. April 18, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ The Associated Press. Archivedfrom the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ "Pudge Rodriguez joins Fox Sports Southwest". MLB.com. March 12, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
- ^ Justice, Richard (April 19, 2012). "Pudge unquestionably a Hall of Famer". MLB.com. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- ^ Ortiz, Jorge L. (December 26, 2016). "Hall of Fame case: Pudge Rodriguez will get in, but might have to wait". USA Today. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
- National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
- ^ 'Little kid with big dream,' Pudge enters Hall
- The Associated Press. August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ Lucas, Ed (July 27, 2017). "Hall of Fame inductee Ivan Rodriguez still making Puerto Rico proud". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
- ^ Postins, Matthew (October 26, 2023). "World Series First Pitches for First Two Games". Sports Illustrated Texas Rangers News, Analysis and More.
- ^ "Quick Facts About the Foundation". Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez Foundation. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- The Associated Press. February 15, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
External links
- Iván Rodríguez at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Iván Rodríguez on Twitter