Rey Ordóñez

Rey Ordóñez
Ordóñez with the New York Mets on May 30, 1999.
Shortstop
Born: November 11, 1971 (1971-11-11) Havana, Cuba
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 1, 1996 for the New York Mets
Last MLB appearance
July 19, 2004 for the Chicago Cubs
Career statistics
Batting average	.246
Hits	767
Runs batted in	287
Teams
New York Mets (1996–2002) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003) Chicago Cubs (2004)
Career highlights and awards
3× Gold Glove Award winner (1997, 1998, 1999)

Reynaldo Ordóñez Pereira (born November 11, 1971 in Havana, Cuba) is a former professional baseball shortstop. He played all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Chicago Cubs.

In 1993, in Buffalo, New York, Ordóñez became the second Cuban baseball player in history to defect to the United States. Ordóñez was a promising young player for the Havana Industriales club in Cuba at the time.

Professional career

St. Paul Saints

Before signing with a major league team, Ordóñez played part of the 1993 season with the St. Paul Saints of the Northern League. In 15 games with the Saints, he batted .283. He signed with the Mets as a free agent after the season, on October 29, 1993.

New York Mets

Ordóñez joined the Single-A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League and later moved up to Double-A seeing playing time with the Eastern League's Binghamton Mets as well in 1994. While in the minors, he was constantly compared to future hall-of-fame shortstop Ozzie Smith. Ordóñez made his major league debut in 1996. On opening day in 1996, Ozzie Smith and the Cardinals faced the Mets in Ordóñez's major league debut. After Ordóñez's stunning relay throw to home plate from his knees during his first major league game, Smith responded "I can definitely say he is the second-coming of me." Ordóñez went on to win three consecutive Gold Glove Awards for his outstanding defensive play with the Mets. During the 1999 and 2000 seasons, Ordóñez set a Major League record for shortstops by playing 101 consecutive games without committing a fielding error. Furthermore, in 1999, Ordóñez committed only four errors while posting a .994 fielding percentage, a performance that one could argue may be the best defensive season ever by a shortstop.

Though he rarely struck out and was capable of laying down sacrifice bunts, he was not a particularly effective hitter. Besides a career batting average of just .246, he was not a good base stealer, drew few walks and had almost no power. His lifetime OPS of .599 was almost 200 points lower than the Major League average (.782 in 2000, for example).

Ordóñez's defensive play never truly recovered after fracturing his left arm on May 29, 2000, when attempting to tag the Los Angeles Dodgers' F.P. Santangelo out at second base, an injury that prevented the perennial Gold Glove contender from playing in the 2000 World Series (the Subway Series) against the New York Yankees. Given that he offered little offensively, with his defense diminished, his value as a player became drastically reduced. Ordóñez was taunted by unhappy Mets fans throughout the 2002 season, particularly because the much-heralded double play combination of him and Roberto Alomar failed to produce. In a year-end interview, Ordóñez lashed out, calling the Mets fans "too stupid".

Devil Rays and Cubs

Later in the year, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Ordóñez missed most of the 2003 season due to injuries and played briefly for the Chicago Cubs before being given his release.

San Diego Padres

In 2004, incoming rookie Khalil Greene beat out Ordóñez for the position of shortstop with the San Diego Padres during spring training. He was unsure at the time whether he would ever play Major League Baseball again, and in fact did not play for any MLB organization during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Seattle Mariners

On November 14, 2006, Ordóñez was signed to a minor league contract by the Seattle Mariners. On April 1, 2007, Ordóñez was reassigned to the Mariners minor league camp, but stated to the Seattle Times newspaper that at the age of 35, he was "too old for that." According to reports, Ordóñez was originally included on the Mariners final 25-man roster, but an 11th hour trade with the San Francisco Giants for outfielder Jason Ellison led to his reassignment. Ordóñez hoped to catch on with another major league franchise, but never did.

See also

• List of NL Gold Glove Winners at Shortstop

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• 2004 daily statistics at ESPN
• Rey Ordóñez Acrobat In Spikes