Reynaldo Ordóñez Pereira (born January 11, 1971) is a Cuban former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. He played nine seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Early life

Ordóñez was a promising young player for the Havana

Industriales Industriales is a professional baseball team in the Cuban National Series. Located in Cerro, La Habana, it is known as the only team representing the country’s capital, Havana. Industriales is historically the most successful team in the Nat ...

club in the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, or SNB) is a domestic baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the National Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. For most ...

, and was named to the Cuban national team at the

1993 Summer Universiade The 1993 Summer Universiade, also known as XVII Summer Universiade or World University Games Buffalo '93, took place in Buffalo, New York, as the main site. For the first time in history the event was hosted by two countries, as some events wer ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. He

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to the United States at the tournament, two days after teammate Eddie Oropesa; in doing so, he became only the third player since the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

to openly defect to the United States. In March 2013, Ordóñez finally traveled back to Cuba 20 years after defecting.

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 In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

after the season, on October 29, 1993, and retired from baseball in 2007 after several years of injury-related absence from the majors.

New York Mets

Ordóñez joined the Single-A St. Lucie Mets of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in 1994 and later that season moved up to Double-A with the Eastern League's

Binghamton Mets The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mi ...

. He made his major league debut in 1996. Ordóñez won three consecutive

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual Fielding (baseball), fielding performances. It is awar ...

s for his outstanding defensive play with the Mets from 1997 to 1999. 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 In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. It is arguably the best defensive single-season performance ever by a major league shortstop based on the number of errors. Though he rarely struck out and was capable of laying down sacrifice bunts, Ordóñez was not a particularly effective hitter. Besides a career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .246, he was not a good base stealer, drew few walks and little power. His lifetime OPS of .600 was almost 200 points lower than the major league average (.782 in 2000, for example). Ordóñez's defensive play never recovered after he fractured his left arm on May 29, 2000, when attempting to tag the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

' F.P. Santangelo out at

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

, an injury that prevented the three-time Gold Glove winner from playing in the

2000 World Series The 2000 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2000 season. The 96th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between crosstown opponents, the two-time defending World Series champions an ...

(the ''Subway Series'') against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. 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 Roberto Alomar Velázquez (; ; born February 5, 1968) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican former second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seventeen seasons. He is regarded as one of the greatest second basemen and all-around pla ...

failed to produce.

Devil Rays and Cubs

On December 15, 2002, Ordóñez was traded to the

for two minor league players to be named later, along with $4.25 million to cover his salary. Ordóñez missed most of the 2003 season due to injuries and signed with the

in 2004. He made his Cubs debut in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 28. He recorded his first hit in a Cubs uniform on June 2 against the Houston Astros. Ordóñez played 23 games and recorded 10 hits before being given his release by the Cubs on July 23, 2004.

San Diego Padres

In 2004, incoming rookie Khalil Greene beat out Ordóñez for the position of shortstop with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

during

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. He was unsure at the time whether he would ever play Major League Baseball again, and did not play for any major league organization during the and seasons.

Seattle Mariners

On November 14, 2006, Ordóñez was signed to a minor league contract by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

. On April 1, 2007, Ordóñez was reassigned to the Mariners' minor league camp, but stated to the ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'' 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 The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

for

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

Jason Ellison led to his reassignment. Ordóñez hoped to catch on with another major league franchise but never did.

Personal life

In 2001, Ordóñez agreed to pay his ex-wife, Hilda Maria Fiallo, $6,250 per month in child support, for their son, Rey Jr. This amounted to a 4,166 percent raise for Fiallo, who had been previously granted child support payments of only $1.50 per month by a Cuban court.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ordonez, Rey Major League Baseball shortstops New York Mets players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Chicago Cubs players Gold Glove Award winners St. Paul Saints players Binghamton Mets players St. Lucie Mets players Norfolk Tides players Daytona Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball players from Cuba 20th-century Cuban sportsmen Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States 1971 births Living people Defecting Cuban baseball players Baseball players from Havana Metropolitanos de La Habana players Industriales de La Habana players