Ivan Pudge Rodriguez

Iván Rodríguez Torres, also known as “Pudge,” is a former Major League Baseball catcher. He spent the majority of his career with the Texas Rangers (in two distinct stints), the Florida Marlins, the Detroit Tigers, the New York Yankees, the Houston Astros, and the Washington Nationals. In 1999, Rodríguez was named the American League MVP and is widely recognized as one of the all-time great catchers.

Rodríguez won the World Series in 2003 with the Florida Marlins and also appeared in the 2006 World Series with the Tigers. He has the most career putouts by a catcher in the major leagues. Rodríguez made an MLB record on June 17, 2009, when he caught his 2,227th game, passing Carlton Fisk (coincidentally also known by the nickname “Pudge”). He had the best caught stealing percentage of any major league catcher throughout his career, at 45.68 percent (against a league average of 31 percent), and he had nine seasons with a caught stealing rate of 50 percent or greater.

Rodríguez was chosen for inclusion in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown on January 18, 2017, receiving 76 percent of the votes cast, and was officially enshrined on July 30, 2017. Rodríguez most recently served in a governmental role as a Shadow Representative for Puerto Rico. He keeps up with his fans on Twitter, where he boasts over 65,000 followers.