Melvin Mora
Mora during a game with the Orioles in 2008
Third baseman / Outfielder
Born: (1972-02-02) February 2, 1972 (age 40) Agua Negra, Yaracuý State, Venezuela
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 30, 1999 for the New York Mets
Career statistics
Batting average	.277
Home runs	171
Runs batted in	754
Teams
New York Mets (1999–2000) Baltimore Orioles (2000–2009) Colorado Rockies (2010) Arizona Diamondbacks (2011)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (2003, 2005) Silver Slugger Award winner (2004) Led AL in On Base Percentage (2004)

Melvin Mora (born February 2, 1972 in Agua Negra, Yaracuý State, Venezuela), affectionately nicknamed Melmo or Melvy, is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder who is currently a free-agent. He played for the New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.

From his debut in 1999 to 2003, Melvin Mora was known as a utility player, playing all three outfield positions, shortstop, and second base. In 2004, Mora was designated the everyday third baseman, a position he has played regularly ever since.

Baseball career[link]

New York Mets[link]

Mora was signed out of Venezuela in 1991. After spending seven years in the Astros minors system and couple of months in CPBL's Mercuries Tigers, he signed as a free agent with the Mets in 1998 and made his major league debut in the 1999 season. With his ability to play all three outfield positions, shortstop, second base and third, Mora was considered a valuable man to have around.

In 1999, he scored the winning run of the final game of the year for the Mets on a wild pitch by the Pirates' Brad Clontz, which propelled the Mets to a one-game playoff with Cincinnati, which they won.

Baltimore Orioles[link]

2000–02[link]

Melvin Mora was traded by the Mets to Baltimore on July 28, 2000 with two minor league players and Mike Kinkade for shortstop Mike Bordick.^[1]

Used as a utility player in Baltimore, Mora showed promise and hints of ability to contribute as an every day player but struggled to break through. Things changed when an injury-depleted Orioles team used Mora almost exclusively in left field, and Mora responded with the best stretch of his career. He reached base in 32 straight games while using a 23-game hitting streak to temporarily become the American League batting leader. Finally excelling as a hitter, Mora was chosen for his first All-Star selection. Mora's season was cut short due to injuries (a bruised wrist and a partially torn ligament in his left knee), but finished with a .317 batting average, 15 home runs, and a .418 on-base percentage in 96 games.

2003–04[link]

Mora's 2003 season proved that he could be a consistent hitter at the major league level. In 2004, Mora became the Orioles' regular third baseman and enjoyed his most productive season in the majors. Mora hit a career-high .340, finishing second in the AL batting race to Ichiro Suzuki's .372 mark; led the league hitters in on base percentage (.419); ranked 5th in slugging average (.562) and OPS (.981); 6th in runs (111), doubles (41) and times on base (264); 8th in hits (187), and 9th in total bases (264). His 27 home runs and 104 RBI were also career-highs, while leading his team in batting average, runs, on base percentage, slugging average and OPS. At third base, he improved and became more consistent as the season wore on.

2005–07[link]

In 2005, Mora once again hit 27 home runs, although his batting average and on base percentage dropped. On May 19, 2006 Mora agreed to a three-year, $25M deal that included a no-trade clause because Mora did not want to move his family to another city.^[2]

In 2006, Mora's home run total dropped to 16, and again dropped in 2007 to 14. Mora also saw his batting average fall to .274 for both seasons.

2008[link]

Mora was named American League Player of the Month for August 2008. Mora batted .418 (41-for-98) with 8 home runs and had a MLB leading 32 RBIs in 24 games. He posted a .765 slugging percentage and a .455 on-base percentage, with 17 extra-base hits, including eight doubles. Mora had a 13 multi-hit games in August 2008 and maintained an 8-game hitting streak from August 1–10. On August 17 at Detroit, Mora went 5-for-6 with two doubles, 2 home runs, 4 runs scored and 6 RBIs during a 16–8 Orioles win. Overall, Mora had five games in August in which he collected four-or-more RBIs. Mora injured his hamstring on August 29, 2008, missing the final games of his impressive month.

2009[link]

On September 18, 2009, Brooks Robinson made a rare appearance at Camden Yards to honor Mora for moving into second all-time in games played at third base by an Oriole (behind only the Hall of Famer Brooks, himself). He presented Melvin with the third base from the game he moved into second.

In 2009 he led all major league starting third basemen in range factor, at 3.14.^[3]

Mora's option was declined by the Orioles on October 29, 2009.

Colorado Rockies[link]

On February 5, 2010, the Colorado Rockies signed Mora to a one-year, $1.275 million contract.^[4][5] He played in 113 games for the NL West third place Rockies (83-79) and batted .285 with seven home runs and 45 RBI.^[6][7]

Arizona Diamondbacks[link]

Mora signed a one-year $2.35 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on December 6, 2010.^[8] He was expected to replace Mark Reynolds as the starting third baseman.^[9] Mora missed a few days of spring training as a precautionary measure despite not having any serious injuries after his automobile was struck from behind by another vehicle on Arizona State Route 101 on March 7, 2011.^[10] He was in the starting lineup on Opening Day, scoring a run while going hitless in five at-bats in a 7–6 victory over the Rockies at Coors Field on April 1.^[11] His playing time eventually was limited due to the emergence of Ryan Roberts. After a 6–2 loss to the Cleveland Indians at Chase Field on June 29 in which he struck out as a pinch hitter for Zach Duke with one out and a runner on first base in the fifth inning, he was given his unconditional release effective the following day. He batted .228 with no home runs and 16 RBI in 42 games with the Diamondbacks.^[9] He allegedly officially announced his retirement as an active players on December 29, 2011, though in mid-January, Mora corrected that claim by saying he still wished to play in 2012.^[12][13]

World Baseball Classic[link]

Melvin Mora agreed to represent his native country, Venezuela, in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, joining fellow Venezuelan major Leaguers Bobby Abreu, Edgardo Alfonzo, Miguel Cairo, Omar Vizquel, Carlos Guillén, Johan Santana, Freddy García, Carlos Silva, Carlos Zambrano, Victor Zambrano, Juan Rivera, and Francisco Rodríguez. He later pulled out after being denied the third-base position in favor of Miguel Cabrera.

Highlights[link]

• Twice All-Star (2003, 2005)
• Twice American League Player of the Month (May 2004, August 2008)
• First player to hit a home run off the top of the foul pole at Camden Yards
• 2000 Wampum Willy Award Winner

Personal life[link]

When he was six years old, his father was murdered in front of him in Venezuela by men who mistook him for somebody else.^[14]

On July 28, 2001, Mora's wife Gisel gave birth to quintuplets at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The babies, three girls and two boys, were named Genesis Raquel, Jada Priscilla, Rebekah Alesha, Christian Emmanuel, and Matthew David. They also had an older daughter Tatiana before the quintuplets were born.^[15] The family resides in Fallston, Maryland.^[16]

In the Orioles media guide, Mora stated his most embarrassing moment as a player came in his rookie year in 1999 when, knowing little English, he thought his manager Bobby Valentine had told him to go to left field when he was actually being told to go to second base.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• USA Today Orioles' Mora a Nº 1 dad
• Johns Hopkins Hospital Dome - Mora Quintuples

Mike Piazza
Piazza with the Mets at Shea Stadium, May 30, 1999
Catcher
Born: (1968-09-04) September 4, 1968 (age 43) Norristown, Pennsylvania
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 1992 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 2007 for the Oakland Athletics
Career statistics
Batting average	.308
Home runs	427
Runs batted in	1,335
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (1992–1998) Florida Marlins (1998) New York Mets (1998–2005) San Diego Padres (2006) Oakland Athletics (2007)
Career highlights and awards
12× All-Star (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005) 10× Silver Slugger Award winner (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) 1993 NL Rookie of the Year 1996 MLB All-Star Game MVP

Michael Joseph Piazza ( /piːˈɑːtsə/ or /piːˈɑːzə/);^[which?] born September 4, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and the Oakland Athletics.

A 12-time All-Star, Piazza is often regarded as one of the best-hitting catchers of all time and holds the record for home runs hit by a catcher with 396, with a career total of 427. He had at least one RBI in 15 consecutive games for the New York Mets in 2000, the second-longest RBI streak ever (Ray Grimes of the Chicago Cubs had 17 consecutive games in 1922).

Childhood[link]

Piazza was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, the second-oldest son of Vince and Veronica, with brothers Vince Jr., Danny, Derek, Tony, and Tommy. Vince Piazza earned a fortune of more than $100 million in used cars and real estate, and attempted several times to purchase a Major League Baseball franchise.^[1] When the Dodgers—managed by Vince Piazza's childhood friend Tommy Lasorda, Tony Piazza's godfather—visited Philadelphia, Piazza visited the Dodger clubhouse and served as a batboy in the dugout.^[2]

Vince Piazza's own hopes of playing baseball had ended at the age of 16 when he left school to support his family. He saw that Mike Piazza had potential in the sport, and began encouraging his son to build his arm strength at the age of five.^[1] When he was 12, Piazza received personal instruction in his backyard batting cage from Ted Williams.^[3] The Hall of Famer praised his talent, advised him not to let anyone change his swing, and autographed Piazza's copy of Williams' The Science of Hitting.^[2] Vince Piazza threw hundreds of pitches nightly to his son,^[1] who shared his father's focus on baseball, clearing snow if necessary to practice his hitting and, after reaching the major leagues, practicing on Christmas Eve.^[2] He attended Phoenixville Area High School and graduated in 1986.

Major league career[link]

Los Angeles Dodgers[link]

After his father asked Lasorda to select Piazza as a favor,^[4] the Miami-Dade Community College student was drafted by the Dodgers in the 62nd round of the 1988 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft as the 1,390th player picked overall in the draft.^[5][2] Lasorda asked Piazza to give up his first base position and learn how to catch in order to improve his chances of reaching the major leagues, and helped him attend a special training camp for catchers in the Dominican Republic.^[2] Although critics saw him as unfairly privileged due to his relationship with Lasorda, Piazza became an excellent hitter, especially for a catcher.^[4] His major league debut came with the Dodgers on September 1, 1992 against the Chicago Cubs. He drew a walk in his first at-bat and then doubled to deep center field in his second at-bat, against Mike Harkey of the Cubs.^[6] He hit his first home run on September 12, 1992 against Buddy Black of the San Francisco Giants. ^[7] He only appeared in 21 games that season, hitting .232.

In 1993, he won the National League MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1993 after appearing in 149 games, hitting .318, slugging 35 home runs and driving in 112 RBI. He was also selected to the 1993 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, his first of 10 consecutive (and 12 total) All-Star appearances.

In 1996, Piazza hit .336 with 36 home runs and 105 RBIs, finishing second in MVP voting, behind Ken Caminiti.

Piazza's best season with the Dodgers was 1997, when he hit .362, with 40 home runs, 124 runs batted in, an on base percentage of .431 and a slugging percentage of .638. He finished second in voting MVP for the second consecutive season.

Florida Marlins[link]

He played six seasons for the Dodgers until he was traded to the Florida Marlins on May 15, 1998. Piazza and Todd Zeile went to the Marlins in return for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, Manuel Barrios, and Jim Eisenreich.^[8] He only appeared in 5 games with the Marlins, where he hit .278.

New York Mets[link]

Piazza batting against the Milwaukee Brewers.

One week later, on May 22, Piazza was traded from the Marlins to the New York Mets for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and Geoff Goetz. Despite stellar numbers from Piazza, the Mets missed the 1998 postseason by one game. Piazza helped the Mets to two consecutive playoff appearances for the only time in Mets history in 1999 and 2000. The latter of the two resulted in a National League pennant and World Series appearance, where the Mets lost in five games to a Yankees team winning their fourth World Series in five years. Of note, all five games were decided by two runs or fewer, something that had not occurred in a World Series in almost 70 years. He became known as The Monster after coach John Stearns was caught on tape during the 2000 National League Championship Series after a Piazza hit saying "The Monster is out of the Cage." ^[8][9]

Piazza was involved in a bizarre incident in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series. In the first inning, Piazza was facing Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens and broke his bat fouling off a pitch. The barrel of his bat rolled toward the pitcher's mound. Clemens picked up the broken barrel and threw it at Piazza as he ran up the first base line. This sparked both benches to clear, but with no ejections. The reason this incident sparked this reaction was because earlier in the season, during interleague play when the Mets played the Yankees, Piazza was drilled in the head, to the horror of fans, by a Roger Clemens fastball. Piazza suffered a concussion and was forced to miss the 2000 MLB All-Star Game as a result. Clemens was widely criticized for the play.

On September 21, 2001, ten days after the terrorist attacks of September 11 the Mets faced their rivals the Atlanta Braves in the first professional sporting event hosted in New York City since the tragedy. After an emotional pre-game ceremony, Piazza hit a two-run home run off Braves reliever Steve Karsay that put the Mets ahead 3–2, securing a victory.^[10]

Piazza would later catch for Roger Clemens when both were on the National League team in the 2004 All-Star Game. Clemens gave up six runs in the first inning.^[11]

To ease the stress on his deteriorating knees, Piazza began to split his time between catching and playing first base during the 2004 season, an experiment which was abandoned before the end of the season because of Piazza's defensive deficiencies.^{[citation needed]} Although recognized as a great hitter, Piazza has had some notable defensive accomplishments. Among them, Piazza caught two no-hitters thrown by Ramón Martínez and Hideo Nomo while playing with the Dodgers. Nomo's was particularly impressive because it happened at Coors Field, notorious at the time for being a hitter-friendly ballpark. Additionally, Piazza's .997 Fielding Percentage was tops among National League catchers in 2000.^[12]

On May 5, 2004, Piazza surpassed Carlton Fisk for most home runs by a catcher with his 352nd as a catcher.

On October 2, 2005, Piazza played his final game in a Mets uniform, as it was well-reported that the All-Star catcher and the team would part ways following the season as Piazza's seven-year Mets contract expired. During the game against the Colorado Rockies, Mets manager Willie Randolph replaced Piazza after the eighth inning, at which point the Shea Stadium crowd of 47,718 serenaded him with a standing ovation, at which point Piazza humbly bowed to the stands and blew kisses to the adoring fans. The game was delayed for eight minutes while fans shouted and clapped rhythmically, with the ballpark's video screen displaying memories of Piazza's 972-game Mets career over nearly eight years in New York, as players from both the Mets and Rockies stood at the steps of their dugouts and clapped in appreciation of Piazza's legendary Mets tenure.

San Diego Padres[link]

Following the 2005 season, Piazza filed for free agency and he signed a one year contract with the San Diego Padres on January 29, 2006. Serving as the Padres' starting catcher and clean-up hitter, Piazza experienced somewhat of a rejuvenation in 2006, batting .283 with 22 homers and helping the Padres to a division title. On July 21, 2006, Mike Piazza collected his 2,000th career hit in the major leagues.

On August 8, 2006, Piazza played his first game at Shea Stadium since leaving the Mets. During the three-game series, Piazza drew frequent, repeated standing ovations which were indicative of the high level of regard held by New York's fans. It was on par with that of Tom Seaver on his return to pitch at Shea Stadium in 1977 and 1978. Even more telling was during that series, on August 9, he drew a rare curtain call in the opposing park following a home run off of Mets pitcher Pedro Martínez in the 4th inning. Not done for the day, Piazza went deep off Martinez again in the 6th. And with the Mets ahead 4-2 in the 8th, and two runners aboard, Piazza hit one to the wall in center, nearly bashing his third homer of the day and putting the Padres ahead. The fans, ecstatic that he'd hit two, did not get the chance to react to a third.

Oakland Athletics[link]

Piazza signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics on December 8, 2006.

On July 25, 2007, in the top of the ninth inning in a game between the Angels and Athletics at Angel Stadium, a fan threw a water bottle that hit Piazza, who had homered earlier in the game. Piazza then pointed his bat in the stands at the fan he believed threw the water bottle to get the attention of security. The fan, who was identified as Roland Flores from La Puente, California, was arrested by the ballpark security. Piazza pressed charges against Flores.^[13] Flores was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years of probation on March 27, 2008.

Piazza represented Italy in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Only nine other players have ever had over 400 home runs with over a .300 lifetime average while never striking out more than 100 times in a season (Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Mel Ott, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Vladimir Guerrero, Albert Pujols and Chipper Jones).

Retirement[link]

After not being signed to any MLB team for the 2008 season, Piazza announced his retirement on May 20, 2008, saying, "After discussing my options with my wife, family and agent, I felt it is time to start a new chapter in my life. It has been an amazing journey."^[14]

Piazza made a return to Shea Stadium during the "Shea Goodbye" closing ceremony on September 28, 2008, where he received the final pitch in the history of the stadium from Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. Piazza and Seaver were also afforded the immense honor of officially "closing" Shea when they walked off together into the center field exit and closed the door on the park after waving goodbye to the capacity crowd. On April 13, 2009 Piazza received the first pitch in Citi Field history from Seaver before the Mets opening game against the San Diego Padres.

Mets teammate Tom Glavine called Piazza a "first-ballot Hall of Famer, certainly the best hitting catcher of our era and arguably the best hitting catcher of all time".^[4] On May 8, 2010 while receiving an award Piazza said to reporters that if he got into the Hall of Fame he would like to be inducted as a Met, for whom he played seven-plus seasons.^[15]

Piazza managed the USA team in the 2011 futures game wearing a Mets cap to the event.

Salary[link]

During the 2005 season, Piazza was the ninth highest paid MLB player at $16,071,429. On January 29, 2006, Mike Piazza accepted a one-year deal with the San Diego Padres worth up to $2 million. On December 8, 2006, Piazza signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal with the Oakland Athletics. He replaced Frank Thomas as the Athletics' designated hitter.

Personal life[link]

On January 29, 2005, Piazza married Playboy Playmate Alicia Rickter at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Miami, Florida, before 120 guests, including his best friend Eric Karros, Brande Roderick, Lisa Dergan, Anjelica Bridges, Al Leiter, John Franco and Iván Rodríguez.

On February 3, 2007, Piazza's wife gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter. Nicoletta Veronica Piazza was born at 4:07 a.m. in New York City. She weighed 5 lbs., 8 oz. and measured 19 inches long. The couple's second daughter, Paulina Sophia Piazza was born August 3, 2009 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami, Florida.

He is known to be a fan of heavy metal music, and is featured on the CD Stronger Than Death by Black Label Society. He is also godfather to Zakk Wylde's son, Hendrix. He often co-hosts Eddie Trunk's Friday Night Rocks show on Q1043 FM in New York City and was featured as the primary guest on an episode of That Metal Show.

Piazza is a devout Roman Catholic and was featured in Champions of Faith, a DVD documentary exploring the intersection of Catholic religious faith and sports. He also appeared in the followup video Champions of Faith: Bases of Life.

Piazza is also avidly involved in the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago.

While playing with the Mets, Piazza was a resident of Cresskill, New Jersey.^[16]

Career highlights and milestones[link]

• In 1993, Piazza hit 35 home runs, the most by any rookie catcher since Matt Nokes hit 32 home runs for Detroit in 1987. Additionally, Piazza's 35 home runs is the most home runs by any Dodger rookie.
• He won the 1994 ESPY Award for Breakthrough Athlete
• He was named the All-Star Game's MVP, in 1996, after he went 2-3 with a double, home run and two RBI at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, near his home town of Phoenixville, PA.
• His 40 homers in 1997 and 1999 are the fourth most by a catcher. Todd Hundley is third, with 41 homers in 1996, Javy López is second, with 43 in 2003, and Johnny Bench set the record with 45 in 1970 (Although not all of these 45 home runs were hit while catching.)
• His .362 average in 1997 was the highest ever by a catcher in the National League, tying the Major League record set by Bill Dickey, who also batted .362 for the New York Yankees in 1936. This record was broken by Joe Mauer who hit .365 in 2009.
• He won the Ted Williams Award, presented by CNN/SI and Total Baseball in 1997.
• His 201 hits in 1997 were the most in major league history by a player used as a catcher in 130 or more games
• On September 21, 1997, Mike Piazza became just the third player and the only Dodger ever to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium with a blast over the left-field pavilion.
• He hit the longest home run in Astrodome history, an estimated 480-foot, two-run blast off José Lima in the first inning of a game on September 14, 1998.
• Led the majors with four grand slams in 1998. His fourth slam and first as a Met came against the Diamondbacks' Andy Benes in the second inning of the August 22 game at Shea Stadium.
• Hit his 200th home run on September 16, 1998, at Houston. The home run, a three-run shot with two outs in the ninth inning against Billy Wagner, gave the Mets a 3-2 lead in a game they would win, 4-3, in 11 innings.
• Tied a Mets club record on July 18, 2000 when he hit his third grand slam of the season. The only other Mets with three grand slams in a year are John Milner in 1976, Robin Ventura in 1999 and Carlos Beltran in 2006.
• His 72 RBI prior to the All-Star Break in 2000 were, at the time, the most in club history. Dave Kingman had 69 in 1976.
• Piazza, Derek Jeter, and Bernie Williams are the only players in major league history to hit a World Series home run in both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium.
• He won a record 10 consecutive Louisville Silver Slugger Awards.The award is given annually to the best offensive player at each position in each league.
• He joined Cincinnati's Johnny Bench (1968), New York Yankees' Thurman Munson (1970), Atlanta's Earl Williams (1971), Boston's Carlton Fisk (1972), San Diego's Benito Santiago (1987) and Cleveland's Sandy Alomar, Jr. (1990) as the only catchers to be named Rookie of the Year. Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto would also be bestowed with this honor following his stellar 2008 season, along with San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey after the 2010 season.
• He finished second in the NL Most Valuable Player voting behind San Diego's Ken Caminiti after batting .336 with 36 home runs, 105 RBI, 87 runs and 16 doubles in 148 games in 1996. (Caminiti later admitted to taking steroids during his MVP Award-winning season.)
• He led the All-Star voting in 1996, 1997, and 2000.
• He hit more than 30 home runs in eight consecutive seasons (1995–2002). He has nine career 30-homer seasons.
• He hit .300 in nine consecutive seasons, dating from 1993 to 2001.
• Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, and Johnny Bench were on hand at Shea Stadium to honor Piazza on "Mike Piazza Night" on June 18, 2004. Piazza was celebrated for breaking the record for career home runs by a catcher.
• He hit his 400th career home run on April 26, 2006, off the Arizona Diamondbacks' Jose Valverde.
• He hit a double off of the San Francisco Giants' Matt Cain for his 2,000th career hit on July 21, 2006.
• Hit three home runs against the Colorado Rockies on June 29, 1996.^[17]
• Mike currently serves as the hitting coach for the Italian baseball club in the World Baseball Classic and in the 2009 World Cup.^[18]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of MLB individual streaks
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mike Piazza

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Mike Piazza at the Internet Movie Database
• Article from New York magazine, October 2000, about Piazza and the Mets
• HardRadio.com interview with Piazza about his passion for Heavy Metal music

Magglio Ordóñez
Ordóñez with the Tigers in 2008
Right fielder
Born: (1974-01-28) January 28, 1974 (age 38) Caracas, Venezuela
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 29, 1997 for the Chicago White Sox
Last MLB appearance
September 27, 2011 for the Detroit Tigers
Career statistics
Batting average	.309
Hits	2,156
Home runs	294
Runs batted in	1,236
Teams
Chicago White Sox (1997–2004) Detroit Tigers (2005–2011)
Career highlights and awards
6× All-Star (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007) 3× Silver Slugger Award winner (2000, 2002, 2007) 2007 AL batting title

Magglio José Ordóñez Delgado ( /ɔrˈdoʊnjɛz/; born January 28, 1974) is a former Venezuelan Major League Baseball right fielder. He has played for the Chicago White Sox (1997–2004) and Detroit Tigers (2005–2011). Ordóñez is 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighs 215 lb (98 kg).

Professional career[link]

In a 15-year major league career (through the end of the 2011 season), Ordóñez was a .309 hitter with 294 home runs and 1,236 RBIs in 1,848 games. He has been selected for the All-Star Game six times (1999–2001, 2003, and 2006–07) and has won three Silver Slugger awards (2000, 2002, and 2007). In 2007, he won the American League batting title with an average of .363. He also established a career high with 139 runs batted in, and finished runner-up to Alex Rodriguez in the AL Most Valuable Player award voting.

Chicago White Sox (1997–2004)[link]

Ordóñez spent the first eight years of his major league career playing with the Chicago White Sox. In the five seasons prior to 2004, Ordóñez hit at least .300 with 29 home runs and 99 RBI, and reached the 30-home run, 100-RBI plateau in four of those seasons. He also collected over 70 extra-base hits from 2001 to 2003, but a collision with second baseman Willie Harris on Omar Vizquel's popup to right field during a May 19, 2004 game against the Cleveland Indians, cost him two trips to the disabled list and two surgeries on his left knee. He finished with .292, 9 home runs, and 37 RBI in 52 games.

Detroit Tigers (2005–2011)[link]

Ordóñez in May 2010

Ordóñez signed with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent on February 7, 2005. His five-year, $85 million contract was the second largest the Tigers had ever paid a player. Because of Ordóñez's knee injury from the 2004 season, the contract included a clause stating that if he were to spend more than 25 days on the disabled list due to the same injury, the contract could be bought out for $3 million at the discretion of the Tigers' management.

After he signed with Detroit, a minor war of words occurred between Ordóñez and Ozzie Guillén, his former manager and teammate in Chicago.^[1] Their apparent mutual dislike for each other was a contributing factor to Ordóñez's departure from the White Sox. However, the rivalry appears to have cooled, as Guillén actually requested Ordóñez for the 2006 All-Star Game.

In 2005, Ordóñez's first season for Detroit, he strained an abdominal muscle during the first week of the season and spent the next three months on the disabled list, as the strain turned out to be a hernia. This caused him to rest after corrective surgery for two months following the injury, after which he began a rehabilitation assignment at the Tigers' AAA minor league team in Toledo. He returned to the Tigers' lineup in early July, and once again became a star by hitting consistently over .300 while batting clean-up.

In 2006, Ordóñez returned to the All-Star form. He was selected to the 2006 All-Star game as an injury replacement for Red Sox OF Manny Ramírez. At the All-Star break, Ordóñez was hitting .312 with 16 HR and 62 RBI, and was a mainstay for a Tigers team that was a major-league best 59–29 at the break.

On October 14, 2006, Ordóñez completed the Tigers' sweep of the ALCS with a three-run homer against Huston Street of the Oakland Athletics, with two outs on a 1–0 count in the bottom of the 9th, the 8th time in MLB history that a post-season series has ended with a home run. The win sent the Tigers to their first World Series appearance since 1984. Coincidentally, it also happened 22 years to the day from when the Tigers won the World Series in that year.

Ordóñez had the best season of his career in 2007. His .363 batting average, 28 home runs and 139 RBIs can be considered the second-best season by a Detroit Tiger batter in the past 60 years (with Norm Cash's .361-41-132 performance in 1961 being the best). Magglio's records and accomplishments in 2007 include:

• His .363 batting average was the highest in Major League Baseball. He finished the season as the AL batting champion, and was the first Tiger player to accomplish the feat since Norm Cash in 1961. The last Tiger to hit for a higher average was Charlie Gehringer in 1937.
• His 54 doubles was the most in Major League Baseball. It was the most by a Tiger since George Kell hit 56 in 1950.
• His 139 RBIs was the highest by a Tiger since Rocky Colavito had 140 in 1961. Colavito is the only Tiger batter with more RBIs than Ordóñez in the past 60 years.
• On August 12, 2007, Ordóñez hit two home runs in an eight-run second-inning of an 11–6 win over the Oakland Athletics, becoming the second batter in Tigers' history to achieve this feat; Al Kaline had done so on April 17, 1955 in a 16–0 win over the then-Kansas City Athletics.
• Ordóñez had an on base percentage of .434; only two other Tiger batters in the past 60 years have hit for a higher on base percentage: Tony Phillips in 1993 (.443) and Norm Cash in 1961 (.487).
• Only one Tiger in the past 60 years has had a higher slugging percentage than Magglio's .595: Norm Cash in 1961 had a slugging percentage of .662.

On April 29, 2010, Ordóñez got his 2000th career hit against the Minnesota Twins' Carl Pavano.^[2] On July 24 Ordóñez hurt his ankle sliding into home. X-rays revealed a fracture that was expected to heal in six to eight weeks, but some weeks after the injury it was reported Magglio would miss the rest of the season.^[3] Following the season, the Tigers declined Ordóñez's $15 million option for 2011.^[4]

On December 16, 2010, the Tigers re-signed Ordóñez to a 1-year, $10 million contract.^[5]

On October 8, 2011 during a playoff game with the Texas Rangers, Ordóñez re-fractured the ankle that he had fractured in 2010, he was then ruled out for the rest of the 2011 postseason.

On November 1, 2011, Tigers general manager David Dombrowski announced that the Tigers would "most likely" not offer Ordóñez a contract for the 2012 season, which makes Ordóñez a free agent.^[6] On May 29, 2012 it was reported that Ordonez would announce his retirement within the week.^[7]

Nicknames and family[link]

In Detroit's Comerica Park, some Tiger fans sported curly black wigs underneath their baseball caps in support of their long-haired right fielder. This ended in mid-2009 when he cut his hair. He is also sometimes referred to affectionately as "Maggs". In mid-2006, a group of bloggers began referring to Magglio as "The Big Tilde". This nickname has been referenced on Deadspin, MLB.com, and during a Fox Sports broadcast.^[8]

Magglio has three children: son, Magglio Jr. and daughters, Maggliana and Sophia. His wife's name is Dagly.

Political views[link]

Ordóñez is a supporter of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and in early 2009 appeared in a televised political ad which assured the Venezuelan people that "the best of the revolution is yet to come."^[9] As a result, during the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Ordóñez was booed by anti-Chávez Venezuelan fans, during his at bats, and while he was on the field.^[10]

See also[link]

	Baseball portal
	Venezuela portal

• List of Major League Baseball batting champions
• List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 2000 hits

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Magglio Ordóñez

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)