Pudge is the wrong messenger with the right message about baseball’s steroid past

Sitting in the Cleveland Indians dugout in the spring of 2002, I asked a high-ranking member of the Texas Rangers’ front office how catcher Ivan Rodriguez got so big in the off-season.

The man looked at me and simulated the easily recognized motion of a syringe going into his arm. The man shrugged and that was all that needed to be said — we both knew.

On Sunday afternoon, Pudge was justifiably honored before the start of the Rangers’ game against the Chicago Cubs for his deserved induction into the Baseball Hall Fame and Museum.

And for all of us who wonder about the steroid era of baseball, Ivan Rodriguez has the right message even if he is not the ideal messenger.

I asked him if he thought…