Pudge is back!

I was around when he arrived as a fresh-faced 18 year old with a love of picking lazy baserunners off first base. He had a cannon for an arm and was awesome against would be base stealers. When his bat got hot, he could carry the team for a few games. Unfortunately, he was prone to chasing sliders and curve balls low and away.
But Ivan Rodriguez was one of the key components on the Ranger teams of the late 1990s that made the playoffs and won division titles. His return to the team shouldn't hurt the chances of that happening again this year. Pudge has agreed to be a back up player on a team full of rookies and thin at catcher (since the starter is now on the disabled list). Taylor Teagarden and many others can learn alot about the game from him. When Houston played in Arlington earlier this year, Pudge set the record for most games caught all-time. I remember during an interview with him that aired locally, he spent some time talking about how good players like Nolan Ryan and Charlie Hough were to him when he came to the Rangers. He spoke about doing the same for the young players he was around in Houston. I hope that he is sincere and takes that role seriously.
It would be a big change from the man that left Texas so many years ago. I mean, seriously, who has an 8 foot tall statue of themself in their yard if they aren't a little cocky?
Welcome back, Pudge. Now let's go catch some Angels.