Magglio Ordonez to retire with Detroit Tigers

AL Central star slugger Magglio Ordonez has been a feared hitter in the MLB for 15 seasons, and the right fielder will announce his retirement with the Detroit Tigers on Sunday at Comerica Park.

Ordonez spent seven seasons with Tigers, with his first eight seasons coming with the Chicago White Sox. He leaves the league with a fantastic .309/.369/.502 triple slash and a 126 wRC+ which is very impressive for a career total. Despite never being regarded for his wheels, Ordonez once stole 25 bases for the White Sox back in 2001.

The right-handed slugger not only had solid power (four straight 30 home run seasons from 1999 t0 2002), but he was also a great contact hitter as can be seen by his .300+ batting average.

Maggs is a six-time All-Star who won three Silver Slugger awards in his career and the Luis Aparicio award in 2007. That year, Ordonez was one of the best hitters in baseball in a year that saw amazing seasons from Alex Rodriguez, Matt Holliday, Jimmy Rollins, and David Ortiz. He led the league in doubles, had a .232 ISO, and won the batting title with an insane .363 average. He finished with 28 homers, 117 runs, 139 RBIs, a .434 OBP, and a terrific 170 wRC+. His WAR that season? 8.1.

The 2007 AL MVP runner-up had two 5 WAR seasons with the Chicago White Sox, including a 2002 season with 38 homers, 135 RBIs, and a 154 wRC+ in an insane offensive campaign. Magglio Ordonez had a five-year peak with the White Sox with at least 29 homers, 99 RBIs, and a .349 OBP. In his final full season with the White Sox in 2o03, Ordonez was worth 4.9 WAR.

However, Ordonez’s career was derailed due to a nasty collision on the 19th of May, 2004 against the Cleveland Indians. He and second baseman Willie Harris collided on a pop-up hit by Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel. The White Sox star RF would end up with two left knee surgeries that would render his knees fragile and cause him to play in just 52 and 82 games in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

He was still a good hitter in those two seasons, but he wouldn’t be worth 2 WAR again until his big season in 2007. He would remain a good hitter thereafter until his huge decline in 2011 and had two 2+ WAR seasons in 2008 and 2010.

On the 7th of February in 2005, Magglio Ordonez signed the second-richest contract in Detroit Tigers history at five-years and $85 million to begin a new chapter in his career; the final chapter. He ended up losing $3 million off of that deal due to his trip to the DL in 2004, but it was still a big payday for a slugger who deserved it and nearly won a ring in Detroit.

He played an instrumental role in the Tigers AL Pennant run in 2006 by blasting a three-run shot off of Huston Street to sweep up the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS. The blast came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and was the ninth time in history that a playoff series ended in that fashion. The cool fact here- if that wasn’t cool enough- is that the Tigers last World Series appearance was in 1984, the last time a HR won a post-season series.

A career 39.6 WAR player, Magglio Ordonez isn’t a Hall of Famer. However, he was a great hitter who had had 12 straight seasons with at least a 110 wRC+, which is just insane. The only other full seasons in which he didn’t accomplish that feat were his first and last full years. He is one of the greatest players in the AL Central and can be regarded as one of the best White Sox ever. Ordonez was a fearsome hitter, and his 2007 season was a thing to behold.

Thanks for the memories Maggs, but I can’t help but wonder how much better he would have been had he never collided with Harris on that fateful day in May. I mean, it is inconceivable that he could have been a Hall of Famer had he never been severely injured in the knee. “The Big Tilde” dealt with many injuries throughout his career, and we will all don our curly wigs now and on the day when he announces his retirement.