As of Sunday afternoon, Ivan Rodriguez will be a permanent member of baseball's most exclusive club.
Not only is the former Texas Rangers star going into the National Baseball Hall of Fame _ along with Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Bud Selig and John Schuerholz _ he was elected for enshrinement in his first year on the ballot.
That is an honor reserved for the best of the best, the no-doubters, even though there was enough doubt among voters for Rodriguez to just barely become the 52nd member of the first-ballot club.
The other 167 players in the Hall had to wait at least one more year.
Even if that had been Rodriguez's fate, if only three voters had left him off their ballot, he was going to get in eventually as the best defensive catcher in baseball history and, arguably, the best catcher.
At the very least he is an all-time great, an MVP, a 13-time Gold Glove winner, a 14-time All-Star, a world champion. Those players don't come along often, and they all have multiple tools that made them the game's best.
"I did a lot of great things in the game," Rodriguez said. "I'm glad to say I had all that with me to become a great player."
