Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 30, 1971, in
Manatí, Puerto Rico), also known as "Pudge
Rodríguez" and "I-Rod", is a professional baseball
player is currently a catcher for the Detroit
Tigers. He has also played for the Texas Rangers and
Florida Marlins. Some consider him the greatest
defensive catcher ever. Rodríguez was awarded the
American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award in
1999. He ranked fourth in the AL among catchers in
batting average, with .260.
Rodríguez won the World Series with the Marlins in
2003, and also played in the 2006 World Series as
the Tigers' starting catcher.
Iván Rodríguez was born in Manatí, Puerto Rico, and
raised in Vega Baja. His father, Juan, worked for a
U.S.-based construction company, and his mother, Eva
Torres, was an elementary school teacher. Iván's
first job involved delivering flyers in the shopping
malls in Puerto Rico. He learned baseball at an
early age, his biggest rival being Juan González,
who he often played against in his youth. As a
Little League player, he moved from pitcher to
catcher because his father, who was also his coach,
thought he was throwing too hard and scaring
opposing players with his pitches. 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." Rodríguez
signed a contract with the Texas Rangers in July
1988, at the age of 16, and began his professional
baseball career.
Rodríguez married Maribel Rivera on June 20, 1991.
That same night, having been called up from triple-A
by the Texas Rangers, he made his major league
debut, in which he threw out two White Sox would-be
base stealers. The couple and their three children
divide their time between Colleyville, Texas, Miami,
Florida and Puerto Rico. In 1993, Iván and Maribel
founded the Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez Foundation whose
purpose is to help families in Puerto Rico, Dallas
and Fort Worth, Texas. Rodríguez has also stated
that the Make-a-Wish Foundation is one of his
charities of choice.
