Rey Ordóñez: Difference between revisions

Rey Ordóñez
Rey Ordóñez
	Ordóñez with the New York Mets on May 30, 1999.
	Shortstop
	Born: January 11, 1971 (age 53); Havana, Cuba
	Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
	April 1, 1996, for the New York Mets
Last 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 (1997–1999);

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Revision as of 19:05, 16 December 2014

Reynaldo Ordóñez Pereira (born January 11, 1971) is a former professional baseball shortstop. He played 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 defected from Cuba to the United States. Ordóñez was a promising young player for the Havana Industriales club in Cuba at the time. In March 2013, Ordóñez finally traveled back to Cuba 20 years after defecting from there and was given a hero's welcome.^{[citation needed]} This became possible under the new Cuban travel policy which took effect from January 2013, eliminating restrictions on visiting the island.

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. Ordóñez made his major league debut in 1996. 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. It is arguably the best defensive single-season performance ever by a Major League shortstop based on the number of errors. Despite this high level of performance, analysis of Ordonez's fielding shows that he did not have the same range as other great defensive shortstops, and his place among the top defensive shortstops of all time is subsequently debatable.^[1]

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).^[2]

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 "stupid", and took issue with the abundant criticism players would receive from fans for underperforming offensively or defensively.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.

References

^ Tom Scocca (1999-11-17). 8 Upper by Tom Scocca: Fools' Gold. Citypaper.com. Retrieved on 2012-10-09.
^ 2012 MLB Team Batting Stats – Major League Baseball – ESPN. Sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved on 2012-10-09.
^ Ordonez angry with fans, wants out after 2003. Static.espn.go.com (2002-09-28). Retrieved on 2012-10-09.
^ Grounding out to Greene By Michael Huang.
^ http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/ , Nov 14, 2006.

External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
Cuban Baseball Career statistics
2004 daily statistics at ESPN
Rey Ordóñez Acrobat In Spikes
Rey Ordóñez Returns To Cuba

Template:Persondata

[1] Tom Scocca (1999-11-17). 8 Upper by Tom Scocca: Fools' Gold. Citypaper.com. Retrieved on 2012-10-09.

[2] 2012 MLB Team Batting Stats – Major League Baseball – ESPN. Sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved on 2012-10-09.

[3] Ordonez angry with fans, wants out after 2003. Static.espn.go.com (2002-09-28). Retrieved on 2012-10-09.

[4] Grounding out to Greene By Michael Huang.

[5] ttp://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/ , Nov 14, 2006.

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@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 '''Reynaldo Ordóñez Pereira''' (born January 11, 1971) is a former [[professional baseball]] [[shortstop]]. He played nine seasons in [[Major League Baseball]] for the [[New York Mets]], [[Tampa Bay Rays|Tampa Bay Devil Rays]], and [[Chicago Cubs]].
-In 1993, in [[Buffalo, New York]], Ordóñez [[defector|defected]] from Cuba to the [[United States]]. Ordóñez was a promising young player for the Havana [[Industriales]] club in [[Cuban National Series|Cuba]] at the time. In March 2013, Ordóñez finally traveled back to Cuba 20 years after defecting from there and was given a hero's welcome. This became possible under the new Cuban travel policy which took effect from January 2013, eliminating restrictions on visiting the island.
+In 1993, in [[Buffalo, New York]], Ordóñez [[defector|defected]] from Cuba to the [[United States]]. Ordóñez was a promising young player for the Havana [[Industriales]] club in [[Cuban National Series|Cuba]] at the time. In March 2013, Ordóñez finally traveled back to Cuba 20 years after defecting from there and was given a hero's welcome.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=December 2014}} This became possible under the new Cuban travel policy which took effect from January 2013, eliminating restrictions on visiting the island.
 ==Professional career==