He’s slim, single and ready to mingle. And according to Detroit Sports Rag’s Jeff Moss, Ivan Rodriguez was also set to slug it out with Alan Trammell.
To say that there are a separate set of rules for Pudge and the rest of the team would be to insinuate that there have been ANY rules for the catcher at all. Ever since signing with the Tigers (when his only other viable option would have been to play daily against the Yakult Swallows and Orix Buffaloes on a daily basis) Rodriguez has been treated with kid gloves by Tigers management.
Pudge’s son is not only allowed on the team plane, but also is allowed in the Tigers dugout. During games. No other player is allowed to have their children on the Tigers plane or in the dugout. This has caused problems between the team and the other players who have kids. It has also bred contempt between the other Tigers players and their catcher.
Pudge openly disrespects Alan Trammell and the coaching staff. According to a Tigers player there was an incident between Pudge and Trammell last season in Chicago. It seems there was an argument about the radio on in the clubhouse that involved Pudge’s kissing buddy, Ugy Urbina.
The situation escalated to the point that Trammell came out of his office to see what was going on and a fight ensued. In front of the team, Pudge had to be restrained from beating the crap out of Trammell. Not only did Juan Samuel pull Rodriguez away from the Tigers manager, Pudge called his boss “a piece of shit.”
Rodriguez wasn’t suspended at the time of this clear insubordination because the Tigers did not want their “golden boy” free-agent to be besmirched by a negative story. After this incident, players viewed Trammell as General Manager/President Dave Dombrowski’s puppet.
He is highly critical of his teammates on a regular basis and has been known to be belligerent towards them. His general feeling is that he is surrounded by a bunch of losers.
For his latest transgression of not showing up in time for the Kansas City game last Friday (which was eventually rained-out), Pudge was fined $52,000 by the team.
Not only does Pudge want out of Detroit BADLY, the Tigers other last chance freeway signing, Magglio Ordonez wants out of the “D” as well. He has been overheard stating that he only signed here to prove his Austrian physician repaired knee was A-OK and now wants to go to a winning team. Or at the very least an organization that has had a winning season in the last dozen years.
Not only have the players totally lost respect for Trammell because of incidents previously mentioned in this article, but that pales in comparison for their hatred of Dombrowski.
They view the Tigers GM as a snake in the grass who lacks integrity. Some players are not happy about the trade of Kyle Farnsworth, but that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to their feelings towards Dombrowski.
After getting fined the 52 large, Pudge left the clubhouse and made a half-ass effort attempt to practice with the team. Soon after he started complaining about a hip flexor injury. His teammates do no believe that Pudge is injured.
The reason you haven’t read about this in the Freep Press or News or Booth Newspapers? Tigers management is trying to use their power to strong-arm the media so this information doesn’t come out. Beat writers do not want to lose access by pissing off Dombrowski. He isn’t exactly the friendliest, warmest dude to deal with as it is.