Magglio Ordonez: One of the Greatest Tigers

Since coming to the Detroit Tigers in  2005, Magglio Ordonez has provided the Tigers with one of the most memorable moments in their 110 year history in 2006, and with one of the most productive seasons that any Tiger has had at the plate in 2007.    In almost fifty years of watching Tiger baseball, I honestly don’t believe that I have ever seen any Tiger have a better season at the plate than the season that Magglio had in 2007.  He was that good.

As the news was just making it’s way around baseball circles that game 2 of the American League Championship series between the Tigers and the Rangers had been postponed, some more devastating news shortly followed.   Magglio Ordonez, one of the most well known and most respected veterans on the Tiger team is done for the season, and possibly for his major league baseball career.   Ordonez confirmed that he had a broken ankle and would be out for the remainder of the season. Tiger manager, Jim Leyland, confirmed in a press conference on Sunday that Magglio would be out for the remainder of the ALCS and for the World Series, should the Tigers advance that far.  

Speculation quickly centered on what the Tigers could do to replace Magglio in the lineup.   Better give up that idea before you get too far.   You can’t replace Magglio.  There’s only one Magglio Ordonez.   You may find a young player that can scrape out a few hits, and you can easily upgrade the team defensively in right field, but the presence of one of the all time Tiger greats, and his veteran presence in the clubhouse and in the lineup, not to mention the .350 plus on base percentage, is something that you just can not replace.

The Tigers signed Ordonez as a free agent away from their division rival Chicago White Sox, where Magglio had hit .308 with an OPS of .868 for eight seasons.   Magglio was one of the last free agents to sign that winter, with his agent Scott Boras holding out for a lucrative multi year contract despite Magglio’s severe knee injury that kept him out most of the previous season in Chicago.  He was given a contract, unprecedented for the Tigers, worth over $ 100 million for seven years with options, and an escape clause that would let the Tigers out of the deal if his bum knee kept him out of action during his first season as a Tiger.   Ordonez got off to a slow start as he battled a sports hernia, and/ or other non knee related injuries in his first season in Detroit.  He played barely half a season, logging just over 300 At Bats, but hitting over .300, an OBP of .359 and some good power when he finally played.   Most significant in 2005 was that the knee was fine, and Ordonez would be a Tiger for at least the next several seasons. 

It was his second season in Detroit, during the Tigers magical run to the World Series in 2006, where Magglio made his mark in Detroit.   He fell just short of another .300 season, but got on base at a .350 clip once again, hitting 24 homers with over 100 RBI.  Most notably, he took Houston Street deep in the ALCS for the Tigers only walk off playoff series win in their history, sending the Tigers to the World Series for the first time in 22 years.   Ask any Tiger fan what their most memorable baseball moments are, and Magglio’s walk off home run will be near the top of every list.  

The following season, 2007, was Magglio’s best as a Tiger, and possibly the best season that any Tiger has had at the plate, at least in my memory.   Ordonez won the batting title, the first Tiger to do so in 45 years,  with a .363 average.   He hit 28 homers with 139 RBI, got on base at a .434 pace, and had an OPS of 1.029.  He finished second in the MVP voting. No Tiger hitter has finished higher since Charlie Gehringer won the award in 1937.    Miguel Cabrera has put up some great numbers that approach Magglio’s stat line, but a close comparison I think verifies Magglio’s 2007 as the best overall season, at least in the last half century, if not in the 110 year history of the franchise.    

For the next three seasons, Magglio posted batting averages above .300, on base percentages above .375, and had an OPS above .800 every season.   When healthy, he was a mainstay in the Tiger lineup batting third, and was one of the most reliable and most feared hitters in the league.   But it didn’t come easy for Magglio.  The last two of those seasons, 2009 and 2010 were tough for Ordonez.   He struggled through the first half of the season in 2009 as his wife battled cancer.  At the all star break, he was hitting just .260 with only four homers and 28 RBI.   There was talk that the Tigers should bench Magglio so that they didn’t have to pay his $ 18 million option for 2010, and their decision would have been justified,  but they stuck with him and at least in the short term, the decision paid off.  In the second half of 2009, his wife recovered from her illness, Magglio went on a tear, hitting .375 to leading the Tigers offense  as they tied for the division title.

2010 was another tough season for Ordonez, though he started off hitting like his usual self, getting on base at a .375 clip, and on pace for another 20 HR and 100 RBI, he broke his ankle sliding into home and was done for the season.   As it turned out, his performance would be hampered after the Tigers resigned their star slugger for 2011, missing several weeks due to the same ankle injury.  Reports if his demise again made the rounds.   But as the Tigers pulled away from the pack toward their first outright division title in quarter of a century, there was Magglio, hitting over .400 with an OPS over 1.000 for the month of September.  And while much of his team struggled to hit in the playoffs, Ordonez didn’t.  He hit .365 with an OBP of .438 against the Yankees, starting all but one of the five games, before learning that his ankle is again fractured and he will miss the rest of the 2011 season.

When you put together your all time Detroit Tigers team, several hitters come to mind right away.  Cobb, Kaline, Freehan, Kell, Gehringer, Trammell.... and Ordonez.  Magglio is right up there with the best Tigers,  in my book.    

Ordonez is no longer the strong, swift outfielder that he once was.  He was reduced to a bench role for the second half of the season, and even when he did start, he was removed for a defensive replacement whenever the Tigers had a lead in the late innings.  The Tigers now have Victor Martinez, just signed to a four year, $ 50 million contract, as a full time designated hitter.  It’s not likely that Magglio, even if he can recover from his latest injury, will be back with the Tigers next season.   Thus likely ends the storied career of Magglio Ordonez in Detroit.   One of the greatest Tigers, ever.