Magglio Ordonez went 3-for-3 today in the Tigers' victory over the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS, but he almost didn't have the opportunity to do so. The longtime Tiger told Danny Knobler of CBS Sports that he almost retired a few months ago due to lingering issues in his surgically-repaired right ankle.
"When I was playing, I didn't enjoy the game," he said. "And I play with my heart."
Ordonez told Knobler he "almost hung it up" at that point. However, he talked with his family and decided to stick with it. As Knobler points out, Ordonez hit .365/.377/.459 over his final 21 games. The power that made Ordonez such a terror to his opponents in the early and mid-2000s is no longer there, but the 37-year-old now says his ankle feels "normal" like it did before the injury.
Ordonez debuted with the White Sox in 1997 and played there from age 23-30, but joined the rival Tigers as a free agent only to see Chicago win it all in its first year without him. Now, his persistence has positioned him for another shot at a World Series title. He won't sign another eight-figure contract like last offseason's one-year, $10MM deal with the Tigers if he decides he can play again in 2012, but that's probably the last thing on the veteran's mind right now.
Gasp
There are about 1,000 reasons why I want the Tigers to win the World Series this year. Ordonez getting a ring is near the top of that list.
Where on the list is Omir Santos getting a ring?
Right after Brad Penny 🙂
Brad Penny has one
This is sooo dust
I really do hope the Tigers make it happen this year. It’s probably the last year for both Magglio and Carlos Guillen, the long-time Venezuelan teammates. You can say all you want about how little either of them contributed this year or in recent years. But without them, the Tigers would not have become what they are today or been nearly as good for the past decade.
Magglio Ordonez was one of the first big free-agents to sign in Detroit in a long-time and he definitely worked hard to earn the majority of his contract when he wasn’t injured. Carlos Guillen had many productive years in Detroit at SS/3b/2b before he was worn out by the grueling IF positions he played and his age as he became more injury proneThe two of them also greatly aided in convincing another Venezuelan, Miguel Cabrera to stay in Detroit long-term after he was traded here. He went on to help recruit another Venezuelan, Victor Martinez, to come play in Detroit. It goes without saying how much the these two players have contributed this season.
This is not to discount Dave Dombrowski and the front office’s hard-work, as they were the one’s that ultimately made the decisions about employing all these players. But this team’s success must also be attributed to team chemistry, much of it sparked by the long-time Venezuelan vets and contributors Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen.