Magglio Ordóñez

**Magglio Ordóñez**
;
	Detroit Tigers — No. 30
	Right Fielder
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
	August 29, 1997 for the Chicago White Sox
Selected MLB statistics (through 2005)
Batting Average	.306
Home Runs	195
Runs Batted In	749
Former teams
	Chicago White Sox (1997-2004) ; Detroit Tigers (2005-present)

Magglio Ordóñez Delgado (IPA /or.ˈdon.jɛz/, or approximately "or-DOH-njez", born January 28, 1974 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball right fielder and right-handed batter who has played for the Chicago White Sox (1997-2004) and the Detroit Tigers (2005-). He's exactly six feet tall and weighs 215 lb. After spending his entire career with Chicago, he signed with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent on February 7, 2005. His 5-year, $75 million dollar contract is the largest the Tigers have ever paid a player. Because of Magglio's knee injury from the 2004 season, the contract included a clause which stated that if he were to spend more than 25 days on the disabled list because of the same injury, the contract could be bought out for $3 million dollars at the discretion of the Tigers' management.

After signing with Detroit, a minor war of words occurred between Magglio and Ozzie Guillén, his former manager and teamate in Chicago. [1] Their apparently mutual dislike for each other was a contributing factor to Magglio's departure from the White Sox. However, the rivalry appears to have cooled, as Mr. Guillén actually requested Magglio for the 2006 All-Star game.

Ordóñez hits the ball with authority to all fields. He has good strike-zone judgment and a short, quick stroke. He pulls the ball against left-handed pitchers but with opposite-field power against right-handers. As a fielder, he has a decent arm, a quick release and good accuracy.

In the five seasons prior to 2004, Ordóñez hit at least .300 with 29 home runs and 99 RBI, and reached the 30-home run, 100-RBI plateau in four of those seasons. He also collected over 70 extra-base hits from 2001-03, but a collision with second baseman Willie Harris on Omar Vizquel's popup to right field during a May 19 game in Cleveland, caused him two trips to the disabled list and two surgeries on his left knee. He finished with .292, 9 home runs, and 37 RBI in 52 games.

In an eight-year career, Ordóñez is a .307 hitter with 207 home runs and 788 RBI in 1134 games (as of June 2, 2006), and he has been selected for the All-Star Game five times (1999-2001, 2003, and 2006).

In 2005, Magglio's first season for Detroit, he strained an abdominal muscle during the first week of the season and subsequently spent the next three months on the disabled list, as the strain turned out to be a hernia. This caused him to rest after corrective surgery for two months following the injury, after which time he began a rehabilitation assignment at the Tigers' AAA minor league team in Toledo. He returned to the Tigers' lineup in early July, and has once again become a force to be reckoned with in the batter's box by hitting consistently over .300, while batting clean-up, since his return.

Ironically, the season Magglio did not play for the White Sox, the Chicago team won the World Series, in 2005.

In 2006, Magglio has returned to the All-Star form that many thought he would never come close to again in his career. He was selected to the 2006 All-Star game as an injury replacement for Red Sox OF Manny Ramirez. At the All-Star Break, Magglio was hitting .312 with 16 HR and 62 RBI, and was a mainstay for a Tigers team that was a major-league best 59-29 at the Break.

External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
ESPN profile and daily update

See also

External links