Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez
His signing as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers before the 2004 season signaled a new beginning for the franchise. The Baseball Hall of Famer immediately became a team leader for the Tigers, in the prime of his career as the catcher with the most hits in MLB history. He was an All-Star in his first season, becoming only the third catcher to be an All-Star for the first ten seasons of his career. That season, he was also the first Tiger to win a Gold Glove award in 15 years.
In 2006, he helped lead the Tigers to the World Series, as a key member of their American League Championship team. The following year, he was behind the plate for Justin Verlander’s first no hitter. In four and a half seasons with the Tigers, Rodriguez had more than 700 hits, drove in 300 runs and homered 62 times, which playing high-caliber defense.
Overall, he played 21 seasons in the majors and retired in 2011 with a .296 career batting average, 311 home runs and 1,332 RBIs.