Ivan Rodriguez is once again looking to make history in Major League Baseball.
If he is given the opportunity by Nationals skipper Jim Riggleman, the man best known as “Pudge” will be setting another mark in his great career tonight.
Tonight, at Nationals Park in the interleague game against the Kansas City Royals, the 38-year-old catcher will set the record for most games ever played by a Puerto Rican player in the majors.
Yesterday, the 13-time Gold Glover equaled Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente’s record of games played by a native Puerto Rican at 2,433.
For Rodriguez, it is another mark on his way to overcoming those established by the legendary Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Pirate.
These days, Rodriguez is well known to be in pursuit of a major milestone that “The Great One” set many years ago: Clemente’s record of 3,000 hits.
At present, Rodriguez is the second-best Puerto Rican ever with 2,761 hits.
Nobody should forget that last year Rodriguez broke the major league record for games caught by a catcher, surpassing Carlton Fisk’s 2,226 games behind the plate.
For the curious, here is the list of the 10 Latin American players with most games played in the history of Major League Baseball:
- Rafael Palmeiro: 2,831
- Tony Perez: 2,777
- Omar Vizquel: 2,772
- Luis Aparicio: 2,599
- Julio Franco: 2,527
- David Concepcion: 2,488
- Rod Carew: 2,469
- Iván Rodríguez: 2,433
- Roberto Clemente: 2,433
- Roberto Alomar: 2,379
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