Former Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez, at age 38 and after more than 14 seasons of major-league service time and more than $130 million in career earnings, is close to retiring, the veteran slugger announced on Twitter. After battling an injured ankle for much of last season, Ordonez found himself unsigned and without serious suitors. If this is indeed the end of the line for Ordonez, he can look back upon a very successful career at the highest level.
While Ordonez will of course have little traction as a Hall-of-Fame candidate, he's been a very good hitter for a very long time. For his career, Ordonez is a .309/.369/.502 hitter with 2,156 hits, 294 home runs, 426 doubles, a batting title, six All-Star appearances, and a second-place finish in the 2007 AL MVP balloting. He's certainly on the short-list of the greatest Venezuelan major-leaguers ever to play the game.
As for singular moments, Ordonez's probably came in 2006, when his three-run, walkoff blast cinched a Detroit sweep over the A's in the ALCS. It was just the eighth time in baseball history that a postseason series ended with a home run.
