Pudge’s impact on teams was Hall-worthy

Quick study? No question.

In the decade he was in his prime, everything about Ivan Rodriguez was quick.

Quick feet. Quick hands. Quick bat. Quick to the big leagues.

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Rodriguez, who was nicknamed “Pudge” shortly after signing with the Rangers, was 19 when he reached the Major Leagues. He hit the ground running.

Rodriguez joined a franchise that had played for 30 seasons split between in two cities without once advancing into the postseason. He would spend 13 seasons in Texas and lead the Rangers to three American League West titles.

This was no coincidence.

While it was the signing of Nolan Ryan and trades for Rafael Palmeiro and Julio Franco that started the ball rolling, Rodriguez was the leading man in transforming the Rangers from one of the least-successful franchises in Major League Baseball to one that now expects to be in the top tier on an annual basis.

Consider this: The Rangers averaged about 1.5 million fans in the decade before Rodriguez’s arrival in 1991, and they have drawn almost 2.6 million per season since then.

Rodriguez, as much as anyone, showed the football-crazy North Texas area that it could get just as passionate about the Rangers as the Cowboys.

He did it with a twinkle in his eye and an insatiable appetite for cutting down baserunners. The 14-time All-Star was a .296 career hitter, but it was his influence on an opponents’ running game — unparalleled in the modern era — that defined the greatness that has landed him on the ballot for the Hall of Fame.

How about this? During his AL MVP Award-winning season in 1999, Rodriguez stole only nine fewer bases (25) than opposing teams stole when he was in the game (34). And he threw out 41. That’s crazy.

Rodriguez, who stood only 5-foot-9 but weighed over 200 pounds, threw out 46 percent of would-be base-stealers in his career — in the same ballpark as legends Roy Campanella, Gabby Hartnett and Yogi Berra, and far superior to the original Pudge, Carlton Fisk (34 percent).

The real testament to Rodriguez’s presence behind the plate was that so few teams dared test him. He caught 836 …

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