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Bench: 'Pudge' Rodriguez is a 'lock' for HoF

JM Reuters

Ballots from the Baseball Writers' Association of America continue to roll in for the 2017 Hall of Fame class, and among the names currently in good position to be elected in their first year of eligibility is Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, who has appeared on 82.5 percent of ballots (75 percent is required for election), according to stats courtesy of Ryan Thibodaux.

While nearly 60 percent of ballots haven't been received, Rodriguez is in good shape to enter the Hall on his first try and has the support of another legendary backstop, Johnny Bench, who was elected into the Hall in 1989 during his first year of eligibility.

"He should be a lock," Bench said last week, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. "Thirteen Gold Gloves. As complete a catcher as I've ever seen. He was intimidating behind the plate, a real solid hitter and incredibly durable. He is everything you'd hope for at the position."

During the course of his 21 years of big-league ball, Rodriguez squatted behind the plate in more games than any catcher in history (2,543), topping second place finisher Carlton Fisk by more than 200 games.

He was also a 14-time All-Star, an AL MVP winner in 1999, and owned a lifetime hitting line of .296/.334/.464 with 311 home runs, 1,332 RBIs, and 127 stolen bases.

"Those are crazy numbers," Bench told Grant. "I had 17 broken bones in my body. I got to a point where I simply couldn't physically do it anymore. He kept doing it - and at a high level - for much longer. For him to endure the beating he took back there and keep playing, those numbers alone show that he belongs."

One thing working against Rodriguez, however, is his link to performance-enhancing drugs. He was named by former teammate Jose Canseco as a steroid user in the tell-all book "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big" in 2005, which Canseco later confirmed during an interview with Mike Wallace.

"In '92, you were traded to the Texas Rangers," Wallace asked. "Did you teach your new teammates how to use steroids?"

"Yes. We spoke and educated three or four players there. ... Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez," Canseco explained. "I injected them. Absolutely."

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