Rodney only 4th in MLB history to achieve feat
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When 42-year-old reliever Fernando Rodney pitched out of the Nationals' bullpen in the seventh inning of World Series Game 2 against the Astros on Wednesday night, he made his first Fall Classic appearance since 2006, when he was pitching for the Tigers and was a teammate of Houston starter Justin Verlander. And with his scoreless inning in Washington's 12-3 victory, Rodney -- the only active player who was born in the 1970s -- joined an exclusive list.
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As FanGraphs noted, Rodney became the fourth player in MLB history to appear in every postseason round in both the American League and the National League -- the Wild Card Game, the Division Series, the League Championship Series and the World Series (both for an AL team and a NL team). The other three are Carlos Beltr¨˘n, Ben Zobrist and Jon Lester.
Here's how Rodney achieved the feat:
AL Wild Card Game: 2013 with Rays, '18 with A's
NL Wild Card Game: 2017 with D-backs, '19 with Nationals
ALDS: 2013 with Rays
NLDS: 2015 with Cubs, '17 with D-backs, '19 with Nationals
ALCS: 2006 with Tigers
NLCS: 2015 with Cubs, '19 with Nationals
World Series: 2006 with Tigers, '19 with Nationals
One thing that Rodney hasn't achieved is winning a World Series championship. With the Nats heading home with a 2-0 World Series lead entering Friday's Game 3, Rodney hopes to finally get it this year in his 17th big league season.