IVAN RODRIGUEZ HALL OF FAME SPEECH
Commissioner John “Stray” Corrado’s Introduction Speech for Ivan Rodriguez:
Born Ivan Rodriguez (Torres) nickname: Pudge – son of Juan Rodriguez and Eva Torres.
Played 17 seasons in the Mid-West Baseball League, an eight time all-star, including three time starter, & a three time gold glove winner. Finished his career with a .295 batting average, 221 homers, 1,022 RBI. He had over 2,000 hits and 1,000 runs scored while being a steady influence behind the plate.
Rodriguez was acquired when I myself took over the Missouri Monarchs of the Iowa Baseball Confederacy in 1992 & Pudge was brought with our Franchise in 1997 to the Mid-West Baseball League & spent 14 seasons with the Mobsters before moving on to Manhattan for two seasons and then finishing his career in Tijuana. With Chicago he was a part of eight playoff teams, including the 2008 World Series champions. Pudge hit .444 in the 2008 World Series with a homer and three RBI in the Mobsters four game sweep of Tempe.
“As many of you know this is a really proud day for me, to see Pudge elected to the Hall of Fame. He will always have a special place in my heart. That aside, if his career wasn’t capped with election to the Hall of Fame, I’d have been shocked. Between his outstanding offensive production & that throwing arm – bringing opposing team’s running games to a grinding halt – he exemplified what a two-way catcher should be. Even at the end of his career, when hewent to Manhattan & Tijuana, his work ethic & dedication to the game was unlike any other. To know that Pudge will be another player with ‘Chicago’ listed as one of his teams on his Hall of Fame plaque is really special for me and I am so happy for him today.”
It is with great honor that I welcome one of the greatest catchers in MWBL history into these hallowed halls. Congratulations Ivan Rodriguez, you are now a Hall of Famer!
It is with great honor that I can now say to one of my All-Time Favorites “Welcome to the Mid-West Baseball League Hall of Fame Pudge”.
Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez Speech:
Thank you so much, muchas gracias, wow. It is an honor to be standing here amongst the greats that have played in our league. Having played with, and against so many of them, it is so humbling to be considered one of their peers now.
Congrats to my friend and one time teammate Jim Thome as well for his election. Going in alongside as great a hitter, and person as him, is truly special.
I must start out by thanking John Corrado, owner of the Mobsters, for making me his franchise catcher from the start. I know how much he values the position, and I took pride in being able to hold it down for as long as I did. We were able to win two AL pennants and a World Series while I was in Chicago, and I could not have played in a better place.
I would also like to thank Rob Schecter of Manhattan and Dave Meyers of Tijuana for giving me a shot late in my career.
To my family, my wife and three kids, thank you so much for your support over my career. Splitting time between Chicago and Puerto Rico was not the easiest thing, but you all did it so well and were always nothing but supportive. Te quiero mucho mi familia.
I must of course, thank my teammates, several of whom are already standing behind me. Stand up Chipper Jones & Billy Wagner – you two were here before me in the Hall of Fame. Today I am honored to be with you. In the future will see C.C. Sabathia, Felix Hernandez & maybe a few more Mobsters up here with us. Thanks for being such great teammates. I was lucky enough to play with some of the greatest players our league has seen, and we won a lot of games. I was happy just to be able to lace em up and take the field with those guys, and I cherished every second of it. It was an honor and a pleasure to get to play this game for as long as I did.
I was able to play for a long time, something catchers don’t always get a chance to do. I was blessed with good health and I thank God for that. I want to thank all of the fans that came out to cheer me, especially the ones in Chicago. I couldn’t have played the bulk of my career in front of a better group of fans, and boy did we have a celebration when we finally brought home the World Series in 2008, after getting so close so many times.
Once again, thank you to everyone who helped make this day possible, I would not be here without all of you and all you have done for me. Thank you so much, muchas gracias y adios mis amigos!