DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers have not had many stars since
Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker and Jack Morris helped them win the
1984 World Series.
They will have only one player, Ivan Rodriguez, in Tuesday's
All-Star game, and the reserve catcher qualifies as one of
baseball's all-time best by any standard.
For starters, just three players have at least 11 Gold Gloves
and a career .300 batting average: Rodriguez, Willie Mays and
Roberto Clemente.
Rodriguez has started 10 All-Star games, tied for the most among
catchers with Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza, and will play in his
12th midsummer classic in his home ballpark. He has seven Silver
Slugger awards, second only to Piazza.
Some have argued Rodriguez is the best all-around catcher ever,
and Piazza wouldn't argue with them.
"I think he's amazing," Piazza said Monday. "He can catch,
throw, block, be a leader and be an amazing hitter. Throughout his
career, look at the injuries he's sustained and come back from."
Rodriguez, who has battled back problems, is playing with a
broken hand and a sprained one. He also has played this season
under a quiet cloud of scrutiny because of his dramatic weight
loss, and an allegation made by a former teammate.
He showed up at spring training weighing 193 pounds -- about 20
pounds lighter than last year -- and Tigers owner Mike Ilitch said
he looked like a kid.
Rodriguez quickly denied accusations in Jose Canseco's book that
he used steroids while playing for Texas. When a reporter tried to
ask Rodriguez about the steroids issue Monday, he quickly said he
wouldn't talk about the subject.
The slimmed-down Rodriguez, whose nickname "Pudge" doesn't
seem to fit like his old uniforms, did acknowledge his weight is
down to 185 pounds because of his workout program and diet.
"It has helped me a lot because I feel great and I feel
strong," he said. "I feel like I'm 22."
Even at 33, an age considered old for catchers, he is producing
behind the plate and at it.
Rodriguez is not playing like he did in his prime -- such as when
he was AL MVP in 1999 after hitting .332 with 35 homers and 113
RBIss -- but he is respected enough to be voted an All-Star by his
peers.
He ranks among league leaders with 23 doubles, is hitting .292
with six homers and 32 RBIss and is still strong behind the plate,
throwing out 23 of 43 runners attempting to steal.
"Pudge is phenomenal, he's been the best in our game as long as
he's played," said Boston's Jason Varitek, who will start ahead of
Rodriguez. "He has a phenomenal release behind the plate, but if
he had only that, and didn't have the offensive statistics that
he's had over his career, nobody would say a word about him."
Since starting his career with the Rangers in 1991, Rodriguez
has hit .306 with 256 homers and 1,032 RBIss.
Rodriguez reached the finals of Monday's Home Run Derby, where
he lost to Philadelphia's Bobby Abreu.
Many scoffed at Rodriguez when he chose to sign a $40 million,
four-year contract to play for the Tigers after he was the MVP of
the NL championship series and helped Florida win the World Series
in 2003.
Detroit lost an AL-record 119 games in 2003, one short of the
modern-day record set by the 1962 New York Mets, and hasn't had a
winning record since 1993.
Last year, he was first Tiger to be voted into the All-Star game
since Trammell in 1988, helping Detroit's turnaround.
The Tigers won 72 games last season, and have taken another step
toward respectability with 42 wins -- one fewer than they had in all
of 2003 -- this year at the All-Star break.
"It's a wonderful story because when he came here, things
couldn't have been any worse," commissioner Bud Selig said.
The Tigers were represented by Rodriguez and Carlos Guillen last
year, the first time they had more than one All-Star since 1994,
and they hoped to have more than Rodriguez on the field and
Trammell assisting Red Sox manager Terry Francona in the dugout.
"Jeremy Bonderman, in my opinion, is an All-Star, but other
managers feel the same way about some of their guys," Trammell
said. "If Kenny Rogers hadn't come, Jeremy was the next guy in
line and that makes me and him feel good.
"But we're represented well by the face of the Tigers. When
people think of the Tigers, they think of Pudge. I'm honored to
manage him. I don't think there's any doubt he's a future Hall of
Famer."