Emotion permeates baseball’s induction ceremony
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez stared out at his father, wiping away tears as he spoke.
“I love you with all of my heart,” Rodriguez said. “If I’m a Hall of Famer, you’re a Hall of Famer — double.”
Those words punctuated Rodriguez’s speech as he was inducted Sunday into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines, along with former commissioner Bud Selig and front-office guru John Schuerholz also were enshrined on a picture-perfect summer day in front of more than 27,000 fans.
“It’s always emotional when you see the fans cheering for you, and my whole family in front of me,” Bagwell said. “I’m an emotional person. It’s a dream just to be part of this beautiful group.”
Before he started, Rodriguez received a standing ovation from hundreds of fans, many wearing red-and-white jerseys with Puerto Rico emblazoned on the front, and proceeded to give half his speech in Spanish.
“This is such an incredible honour for me,” Rodriguez said. “A little kid from Puerto Rico with a big dream.”
Rodriguez, 45, holds majorleague records for games caught (2,427) and put-outs by a catcher (12,376).
He hit 311 homers and batted .296 in his career. He’s also only the second catcher elected on the first ballot, following in the footsteps of his childhood idol, Cincinnati Reds star Johnny Bench.
After speaking in Spanish, Rodriguez went back and repeated in English, concentrating on a message to youth. “You have the right to dream,” he said. “Everything in life is possible. I speak from experience.”
Bagwell, who played his entire 15-year career in Houston, took the dais to an extended applause from the Astros fans who made the trip. “You know I don’t like attention,” he said with a tinge of nervousness. “I’m so humbled to be here.”
Bagwell started his speech by thanking his family, singling out his parents and wife.
“Mom, you are just the most amazing person in the world,” he said. “You’ve been a pillar for me. I can’t tell you how much I love you and what you mean to me. My father, Bob. There’s something about a dad. You brought me to love this game of baseball. Something my father instilled in me was to never quit. Deep inside, I just never gave up. That drive got me a long way.”
Bagwell, 48, was one-third of the famed “Killer B’s” of the Astros, along with Hall of Famer Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman. Together they helped transform the Astros from a last-place team to the World Series in 2005.
Elected in his seventh year on the ballot, Bagwell is the only first baseman in history with 400 career home runs and 200 stolen bases.
Bagwell ended his career with 449 home runs and from 1996 to 2001 had at least 30 home runs, 100 runs scored and 100 RBIs per season, only the sixth player in major-league history to reach those marks in at least six straight years.
Raines was greeted by fans from Canada. He thanked his mom and dad, seated in the front row, and later focused on Hall of Famer Andre Dawson, his teammate with the Montreal Expos when he first broke into the major leagues in the early 1980s. “Without Andre Dawson there’s no telling where I’d be,” said Raines, who fought cocaine problems early in his career. “I wanted to kind of be like you and he finally accepted and I followed. Thank you so much for making me the player I became.”
Raines, 57, a switch-hitter, batted .294 and had a .385 onbase percentage in his 23-year career, finishing with 2,605 hits, 1,571 runs and 808 stolen bases. His stolen base total is the fifthhighest in major-league history and included 70 or more steals in each season from 1981 to ’86, a streak that stands alone in history. And his 84.7 per cent success rate tops the list among players with at least 400 steal attempts.