the position with 135 putouts (second), 30 double plays turned (fourth), and 335 assists (fifth). Rodriguez began the 1974 season saying he was committed to forgetting about home runs and spraying the ball to right and center fields. He hit fewer home runs (five) than any prior full season in his career, but he nevertheless compiled an identical .222 batting average for the second consecutive year. On defense, he led the league in games played at third base (159) for the third consecutive year, and he ranked among the leading third basemen with 389 assists (second), 132 putouts (second), 40 double plays turned (third), 21 errors (third), and a 3.37 range factor per nine innings (fourth). Rodriguez began the 1975 season saying he was no longer listening to people telling him to spray the ball to right field. He recalled the advice of his old manager: "Ted Williams did not tell me to hit the ball to right or to center or to left. He just said hit it hard and not worry about it." Rodriguez's more relaxed approach led to a modest improvement in his batting average to .245, and he led the team with 20 doubles and six triples. On June 19, 1975, Rodriguez hit his first career grand slam against the Kansas City Royals. In 1976, Rodriguez appeared in the Tigers' first 128 games, but missed the remainder of the season after sustaining an ankle injury sliding into second base on August 29. In the 128 games he played, Rodriguez hit .240 with eight home runs and 50 RBIs. He led all major league third basemen with a .978 fielding percentage (nine errors in 409 chances) and received his first and only Gold Glove Award—the first American League third baseman since 1959 to beat out Brooks Robinson. He also ranked second behind Graig Nettles in range factor per nine innings at third base. Injuries continued to slow Rodriguez in 1977. He injured the same ankle sliding into home plate on April 26 and missed five weeks. Even after returning from the injury, Rodriguez shared the third base position with Phil Mankowski—Rodgriguez started 83 games and Mankowski 78. Rodriguez was unhappy with his new part-time role: "I'm not used to sitting on the bench, watching all nine innings. I finally got the Golden Glove last year, and now I'm not playing. I feel bad about it" Rodriguez was