Ivan Rodriguez, nicknamed Pudge is a former Major League Baseball Catcher. In his entire professional career, he played for Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, and Washington Nationals.
Through his career, he earns around $122,573,932. He has an estimated net worth of $65 million.
Ivan Rodríguez Torres is a retired baseball player who was born on November 27, 1971, in Manati, Puerto Rico. He is the only son born to Eva Torres (his mother) and Jose Rodriguez (his father).
He played baseball as a catcher in major league baseball and was regarded as one of the best defensive catchers of all time. He has played for many other professional teams namely, Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals.
He learned to play baseball at an early age for being Juan Gonzalez, a former MLB right fielder, as his biggest rival with whom he often played against in his youth. He was moved from pitcher to catcher by his father, who was also his coach because of his too hard throw and scaring opposing players with his pitches. He attended Lino Padron Rivera High School, where he signed a contract with the Texas Rangers at the age of 16 in July 1988 and started his career as a professional baseball player.
He made his professional debut at the age of 17 for the Gastonia rangers of the South Atlantic League as a catcher. He had three hits in three at-bats against Spartanburg in his very first game.
He was selected as the best catcher in the league and titled to the All-Star while playing in the Florida State League in 1990. He ranked 15th in batting at .287 and led his team with the RBI of 55. He became the youngest player in the history of the Texas Rangers to hit a home run against the Kansas City Royals on August 30, 1991.
He was placed on the Major League Baseball Rookie All-Star team by both Topps and Baseball America and finished the AL Rookie of the Year coming 4th place. he is the first catcher to have more than 30 home runs, 100 runs batted in, 100 runs scored in the history of Major League Baseball and also the first catcher in the history of baseball league to score more than 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
He had a career-high 20 game streak and had 25 stolen bases which were fifth-most among the catchers in the history of the league from May 8, 1999, to June 1, 1999. He won the Silver Slugger Award for the sixth time in a row and selected as the Most Valuable Player by Baseball Digest.
He signed with the Florida Marlins before the 2003 season and led the young team to victory in the World Series. He set many records for the Marlins single season as a catcher such as batting average at .297 and RBI at 85 during the 2003 regular season and became the 10th Marlins player ever to hit a home run in the team's first season.
He then signed a 4-year $40 million contract with the Detroit Tigers before the 2004 season and was selected to the MLB All-Star Game for the 11th time in his career and for his 10th time as a starting player. He was traded to the New York Yankees for relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth after Jorge Posada, starting Yankee catcher had season-ending surgery.
He returned to the Puerto Baseball League in preparation for the 2009 World Baseball Classic during the offseason, following ten years of his absence.
He stands 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 189 pounds. Throughout his career, he bagged $100,000 in 1992, $300,000 in 1993, $500,000 in 1994, $3 million in 1995, $4 million in 1996, $7 million in 1997, $6 million in 1998, $9 million in 1999, $8 million in 2000, $8 million in 2001, $10 million in 2002, $10 million in 2003, $7 million in 2004, $8 million in 2005, $11 million in 2006, $11 million in 2007, $1.5 million in 2008, $1.5 million in 2009, $3 million in 2010, and $3 million in 2011.
He earns a salary from his playing career which adds up to his recent net worth of $65 million. Baseball reference has listed his career earnings of over $122,573,932.million from his playing career.
Rodríguez has a girlfriend whose name is Maribel Rivera. Maribel is a well-known actress who is known for Al Salir de Clase (1997), The Dancer Upstairs (2002) and Invierno en Marbella. The couple has been in an affair for several of years and finally got married on June 20, 1991.
The couple has altogether 3 children: Ivanna Sofia Rodriguez, Ivan Derrek Rodriguez, and Amanda Christine Rodriguez. His son Ivan was born on June 5, 1992, is also a baseball player who was picked in the 6th round of the 2011 MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins.
His daughters Amanda Christine was born on June 21, 1995, and Ivanna Sofia was born on January 12, 2000. Their marriage comes to an end in 2006 after having a relationship for over 15 years.
Currently, he is the husband of Patry Rodriguez. The couple tied in the knot in the year 2007.
