Iván Rodríguez Marquee Hall of Fame 2017

Texas put him behind the plate at nineteen, in June 1991, and he caught for twenty-one seasons. Nobody else has caught 2,427 games; Carlton Fisk, who is second, is two hundred short. His thirteen Gold Gloves are three more than any other catcher has won, and he was chosen for fourteen All-Star teams.

He also hit like a man who spent his afternoons somewhere more comfortable. He batted .296 with 2,844 hits, more than any other catcher has collected, along with 311 home runs and 1,332 runs batted in. The 1999 season brought him the Most Valuable Player award on 199 hits, 35 home runs, 113 runs batted in, 116 runs and 25 stolen bases.

He left Texas after twelve seasons, signed with Florida for 2003, was named most valuable player of the National League Championship Series, and the Marlins won the World Series that October. Five more stops followed, one of them back in Texas, and he was still catching at thirty-nine. The Hall of Fame elected him in 2017, his first year on the ballot.