Pudge lands on HOF ballot for first time

ARLINGTON — The Rangers played in the 1999 Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, N.Y., and they were given a private tour of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum the night before.

Ivan Rodriguez remembers the night well.

“I saw the whole museum,” Rodriguez said. “Believe me, to be honest, one of the things I said to my kids that night was, ‘One day you guys are going to come here and see my plaque.’ That’s what I told my family.”

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That day should come in 2017. The ’17 Hall of Fame ballot was released Monday, and Rodriguez is on there for the first time. There shouldn’t be a second time.

“A no-brainer,” said former Rangers outfielder Rusty Greer, speaking for almost everybody who watched Pudge play over his 21-year career. “It’s not only a no-brainer that he gets in, but a no-brainer that he gets in on the first ballot.”

Former Rangers general manager Tom Grieve said Rodriguez “checks all the boxes” for a Hall of Fame player.

“He was one of those guys fans would pay money to go watch play,” Grieve said.

Rodriguez is the most prominent of the first-year players on the ballot along with Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez and Jorge Posada. Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Trevor Hoffman are the top returning vote-getters from last year’s ballot.

“I feel very excited about it,” Rodriguez said. “It’s hard to believe five years went by that quick. It feels like I just retired a couple of years ago. It will be nice. It will be fun. Hopefully I can be in the Hall of Fame. Nobody knows. I’m feeling positive.”

Votes are cast by writers who have been members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for at least 10 years. A player’s name must appear on at least 75 percent of the ballots to be elected, and voters can list up to 10 names. The announcement of the Class of 2017 is slated for Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. ET, and it will be …

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