Ivan Rodriguez wins a record-setting 11th Gold
Glove
November 5, 2004 -- For a record 11th time in his career, Tigers catcher
Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez has been awarded a Gold Glove by managers and coaches as the best fielder at his position in the American League.
It's the most Gold Gloves won by a catcher (the Reds' Johnny Bench had 10).which puts him past Johnny Bench among Catchers all time.
Rodriguez also won his seventh Silver Slugger award, tying Cleveland's Victor Martinez for the honor as the top-hitting AL catcher. It was the first time since the awards began in 1980 that there was a tie at one position.
Rodriguez is the Tigers' first Gold Glove winner since centerfielder Gary Pettis won the award in 1989. It is Rodriguez's first Gold Glove since 2001, when he was with the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez dominated the award in 1992-2001, winning it 10 straight years.
He's one of 13 major league players to win at least 10 Gold Gloves.
Rodriguez is the first Tigers catcher to win the award since Lance Parrish in 1985 -- the third straight year he was named he best catcher in the league. Before that, Bill Freehan won the award for the Tigers five straight seasons in 1965-69.
When the Tigers signed Rodriguez before the 2004 season, Parrish said the catcher was arguably the best player ever to play behind the plate.
"He's probably the best I've ever seen defensively," Parrish said.
Rodriguez won the award this year despite playing much of the season with a painful hip flexor that limited his mobility behind the plate.
"It was obvious to me that the hip was bothering him," said Parrish. "But Pudge is a very proud man and he wanted to be in the lineup. That's something that both (manager Alan Trammell) and the rest of us appreciated."
In 123 starts at catcher, Rodriguez made 11 errors -- his highest total since 1992 -- and had a .987 fielding percentage.
He threw out 19 of 59 runners attempting to steal, a figure impacted by the Tigers' pitchers inability to hold runners on base.
Rodriguez led the Tigers offensively with a .334 batting average to go along with 19 homers and 86 RBIs.
|
