For all intents and purposes, Francisco Rodríguez’s MLB career sprouted wings in the World Series and met its undignified end on a last-place Tigers team. In the 16 intervening years, the man known as K-Rod grew into one of the last of a dying breed: a lockdown, true-blue closer.
To evaluate Rodríguez’s candidacy is to examine the high bar that closers have to clear to make the Hall of Fame. But before we get to that, let’s first unpack the career of a player whose instantaneous rise to stardom gave way to a nearly unparalleled run of consistent longevity.
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