81 Facts About Ivan Rodriguez

Ivan Rodriguez Torres was born on November 27,1971, and nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball catcher.

Ivan Rodriguez played for the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals.

Ivan Rodriguez won the 2003 World Series with the Florida Marlins over the Yankees, and played in the 2006 World Series while with the Tigers.

Ivan Rodriguez is second on the major league career leader list in putouts by catchers.

On June 17,2009, Ivan Rodriguez set an MLB record by catching his 2,227th game, passing Carlton Fisk.

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Ivan Rodriguez was born in Manati, Puerto Rico and raised in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.

Ivan Rodriguez's father, Juan, worked for a US -based construction company, and his mother, Eva Torres, was an elementary school teacher.

Ivan Rodriguez learned baseball at an early age, his biggest rival being Juan Gonzalez, whom he often played against in his youth.

Ivan Rodriguez attended Lino Padron Rivera High School, where he was discovered by scout Luis Rosa.

Ivan Rodriguez made his professional debut in 1989 at the age of 17 as catcher for the Gastonia Rangers of the South Atlantic League.

Ivan Rodriguez played in the Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente over the offseason.

At the beginning of the 1991 season, Ivan Rodriguez played 50 games with the Tulsa Drillers, a AA team, where he batted.

Ivan Rodriguez was considered the number one prospect of the Texas League.

Ivan Rodriguez immediately established himself as an excellent hitter who was proficient in throwing out would-be base-stealers.

Ivan Rodriguez started many of the Rangers games at the end of the season, including 81 of the last 102.

Ivan Rodriguez became the youngest player in the history of the Texas Rangers to hit a home run, on August 30,1991, facing the Kansas City Royals and right-hander Storm Davis.

Ivan Rodriguez was named to the Major League Baseball Rookie All-Star team by both Topps and Baseball America and finished in fourth place in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

In 1992, Ivan Rodriguez started 112 games behind the plate and was the youngest player in the major leagues for the second year in a row.

Ivan Rodriguez was named to the Puerto Rican Winter League all-star team and was the league Most Valuable Player.

In 1994, Ivan Rodriguez led the American League in batting average among catchers, at.

Ivan Rodriguez played in the Puerto Rican Winter League over the winter, but he suffered a severe knee injury which kept him from playing for the rest of the season.

Ivan Rodriguez played for Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League during the offseason.

In 1996, Ivan Rodriguez set an MLB record for most doubles by a catcher, amassing 47 over the course of the season.

Ivan Rodriguez set the major league record for at-bats by a catcher in a single season, with 639, which surpassed Johnny Bench's record of 621 in 1970.

Ivan Rodriguez led the Texas Rangers in doubles, at bats, hits, and runs scored.

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Ivan Rodriguez was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Star team that played a series in Japan against the Japanese all-stars after the season was over.

Ivan Rodriguez again played in the Puerto Rican Winter League this season.

Ivan Rodriguez had 75 multi-hit games and 186 hits, finishing seventh and ninth in MLB respectively.

Ivan Rodriguez finished second on the Rangers in hits, total bases, triples, and slugging percentage.

Ivan Rodriguez was third on the team in doubles, home runs, and stolen bases, and fourth in runs batted in.

Ivan Rodriguez became the first catcher in the history of Major League Baseball to have two or more seasons with 40 or more doubles.

Ivan Rodriguez was selected to the American League All-Star Team again, and he was named to all-star teams by the Associated Press, The Sporting News, and Baseball America.

Ivan Rodriguez set a new American League record for home runs in a single season among catchers with 35.

Ivan Rodriguez had 25 stolen bases, which was fifth most among catchers in the history of the league.

Ivan Rodriguez led the league in times grounded into a double play, with 31.

Ivan Rodriguez 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.

Ivan Rodriguez was named on all of the ballots, getting seven first place votes and six second place votes.

Ivan Rodriguez was the sixth Puerto Rican to win the award, and the fourth player from the Texas Rangers to win it.

Ivan Rodriguez won the Silver Slugger Award for the sixth time in a row and was selected Most Valuable Player by Baseball Digest.

Ivan Rodriguez was again named to all-star teams by the Associated Press, The Sporting News, and Baseball America.

Ivan Rodriguez 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.

In 2000, Ivan Rodriguez suffered a season-ending injury in a game against the Anaheim Angels.

Ivan Rodriguez appeared in just 91 games, which was the fewest that he appeared in since his first season in the league, 1991.

Ivan Rodriguez returned to full action in 2001 and had another all-star season.

Ivan Rodriguez was selected to his ninth straight MLB All-Star Game, which tied the all-time record set by Johnny Bench.

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Ivan Rodriguez tied Bench's record of ten straight Rawlings Gold Glove Awards in a row.

Ivan Rodriguez had 32 doubles, two triples, and 60 runs batted in while playing in 108 games for the Rangers.

Ivan Rodriguez later returned to the Rangers and played there for the remainder of the season.

On January 22,2003, Ivan Rodriguez signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Florida Marlins.

Ivan Rodriguez chose not to return to the Marlins following the 2003 season.

Ivan Rodriguez won his 10th consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award, making him the first player on the Detroit Tigers to win the award since Gary Pettis won it in 1989.

Ivan Rodriguez won his seventh career Silver Slugger Award, tied with Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians.

Ivan Rodriguez was fourth in the American League in batting average and fourth among all Major League Baseball catchers.

Ivan Rodriguez denied the allegations and said he was "in shock" over Canseco's claims.

Ivan Rodriguez arrived at spring training in 2005 weighing 193 lbs.

Ivan Rodriguez asserted that his weight loss was the result of changes in his diet and exercise.

Ivan Rodriguez 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.

In 2006, Ivan Rodriguez 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.

Ivan Rodriguez was honored with a Fielding Bible Award as the best fielding catcher in MLB in 2006.

Ivan Rodriguez would help the Tigers upset the Yankees in the 2006 ALDS and the A's in the 2006 ALCS to help Detroit win the pennant.

On October 9, the Tigers announced that they were picking up the fifth-year, $13 million option on Ivan Rodriguez's contract, keeping him on the Tigers team through at least the 2008 season.

On July 30,2008, Ivan Rodriguez was traded to the New York Yankees for relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth after starting Yankee catcher Jorge Posada had season-ending surgery.

In preparation for the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Ivan Rodriguez returned to the Puerto Rico Baseball League during the offseason, following ten years of absence.

Ivan Rodriguez returned to action in a "sudden death" game for the final postseason space, but the team lost and was eliminated.

On May 17,2009, Ivan Rodriguez hit his 300th career home run off of Chicago Cubs pitcher Rich Harden at Wrigley Field.

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On June 17,2009, Ivan Rodriguez caught his 2,227th career game, passing Carlton Fisk for the most games caught in a career; the game was against his former team at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Ivan Rodriguez hit his first home run with the Rangers since 2002 on August 29, a solo shot against Minnesota Twins reliever Jose Mijares.

Ivan Rodriguez finished the 2009 season ranked first in major league history with 13,910 putouts as a catcher, ahead of Brad Ausmus.

Ivan Rodriguez returned from the DL in time to catch for Stephen Strasburg's Major League debut on June 8,2010.

Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty instructed Strasburg to throw whatever Ivan Rodriguez called, which he did the entire game, except for the first pitch.

Ivan Rodriguez represented Puerto Rico in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Ivan Rodriguez was one of several Major League Baseball players that committed to represent their birthplaces before the organization of the tournament.

Ivan Rodriguez played for Puerto Rico in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and was named to the classic's All-World Baseball Classic team.

Ivan Rodriguez threw out the ceremonial first pitch during the Rangers home game against the New York Yankees.

Ivan Rodriguez was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on February 27,2014.

Ivan Rodriguez joined FOX Sports Southwest in 2014 as an analyst for pre and postgame television coverage.

In 2017, Ivan Rodriguez became eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ivan Rodriguez became the first former Washington Nationals player in the Hall of Fame.

Ivan Rodriguez was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on July 30,2017.

That same night, having been called up from double A by the Texas Rangers, Ivan Rodriguez made his major league debut, in which he threw out two White Sox would-be base stealers.

Ivan Rodriguez has stated that the Make-a-Wish Foundation is one of his charities of choice.