Well, folks, it’s time to take another look back. We want your take on another key moment in Tiger baseball history. Do you remember?
The year was 2004. February 6th, to be exact. A new catcher came to town in the form of a 4-year, $40M free agent signing. It was one of the most unexpected additions ever made by the Tigers.
So, we have a simple request. Feel free to jump right in with your memories on the topic. But please remember, responses are limited to 4 sentences or less.
After the Tigers endured one of the worst seasons in MLB history in 2003, describe your reaction and your opinion about the free agent signing of Pudge Rodriguez in 2004.
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I thought that, finally, Mike Ilitch had enough of losing and was probably (and rightfully should’ve been) embarrassed by what happened in 2003. Knowing that the announcement for the ‘05 ASG was made months before (during the Blackout) I knew I had to order at least a partial season ticket package for ‘04 and ‘05 to get ASG tix. Getting Pudge made the ‘04-‘05 seasons something to look forward to.
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I was attending an International Coach Convention and one of the relators was a minor league coach for the Marlins and he got the news before anybody. Knowing I was a Tiger fan he came up to me and said it was just unbelievable that Pudge Rodriguez had signed with Detroit, it was the crazy news of the day.
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Signing Pudge to a free-agent contract generated great excitement for Tiger fans. Pudge was a legitimate super star and he was a team leader. In his first year with the Tigers Pudge hit .334 with 19 homers and 86 RBIs. With Pudge in the lineup, the Tigers made a 29 games improvement over their woeful 43-119 2003 record. Two years later, Pudge and the Tigers won the American League pennant.
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It was a shocker to say the least. Going from the World Series penthouse to the baseball outhouse seemed to be such a curious move. Even Pudge said his friends and family thought he was crazy. Two years later they were in the World Series. It definitely an understatement to say that signing changed everything after endless years of hopelessness.
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Being a lifelong Michigander and Tiger fan, it felt like the best news since ’84. His photo, with headlines, was on every sports page across the state. A surprise gift, you never expected.
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There were times in the 2003 postseason with the Marlins when he struck me as the best player for the moment that perhaps I had ever seen, combining offense, defense and leadership. I was amazed that he came to the Tigers, given how terrible we were and it made me suspicious. I wondered if his brilliance was steroid induced, and how much new testing protocols would reduce his impact. I wasn’t entirely wrong, but I am very happy to say I wasn’t entirely right, either.
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On the one hand, Jose Conseco said that Pudge used steroids as an Texas Ranger Then Pudge dropped 28 pounds between his first and second year with Detroit with and corresponding drop in power totals. Pudge himself felt compelled to explain that he was not cycling off steroids but felt that as he was approaching his mid thirties, he need to drop weight in order to gain flexibility and take stress off his body.
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If memory serves, Pudge lost all that weight and stopped hitting home runs just as the MLB testing protocol got ramped up. Quite a remarkable coincidence–it strains credibility.
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Pudge and tram were my favorite players of their eras.
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I remember hearing that Mr. Illitch had to overpay him to get him in the D. That gave me hope he was now seriously trying to build a winning team. It gave me hope. I am now looking for something similar to happen, and until it does I won’t believe CI intends to put an entertaining team in front of us.
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