Frank Thomas is greeted by chants of “MVP” whenever he steps to the plate at Comiskey Park these days.
Magglio Ordonez is greeted with polite applause.
But while Thomas is undoubtedly on course for the most productive and satisfying season of his 10-year career, it’s unlikely he’d be in this position if not for the silent partner in the cleanup hole.
It can no longer be said that Magglio Ordonez is the “best player you’ve never heard of.” Not after back-to-back seasons of over 100 runs batted in, a pair of All-Star appearances and a top 10 American League ranking in categories as diverse as batting average, sacrifice flies and percentage of successful steal attempts.
Still, the laid-back Venezuelan is easy to lose in Thomas’ enormous shadow, preferring to keep a ground-zero profile while Thomas handles the bulk of the interviews. The more Thomas tried to pull Ordonez out of his shell this summer, the more Ordonez retreated into his own personal space.
No one expects a tiger to change his stripes, but some wanted Ordonez to project himself as an emerging superstar, just because his numbers suggest he’s one. Ordonez would have none of it.
But soon enough, October will come. And barring a great collapse, Ordonez will have a piece of the playoff spotlight, a chance to leave his mark on the rest of the nation. No matter what the doubters say, Ordonez believes he and his teammates are ready to prove everyone wrong.
“They better start paying attention to us now,” he said. “We’ve already played good against the good teams, teams we’ll face [in the playoffs]. Now, like Jerry [Manuel] says, we’ve just got to give everything we have for the last [38] games.”
But will the team that shows up the rest of the way be the Good Sox or the Bad Sox? The bullpen has blown 19 saves, the eighth-worst record in all of baseball–the most blown saves of any contending team.
The defense, meanwhile, had committed 106 errors through Sunday, most of any AL team except Oakland. The available starters this week are Mike Sirotka, Jim Parque, Sean Lowe, rookie Rocky Biddle and the recently released Ken Hill.
If the old axiom that pitching and defense wins World Series is valid, the Sox of late August don’t look like a realistic contender. Everyone on the mound is on shaky ground, in spite of the team’s eight-game lead over Cleveland.
No one has stepped up in the rotation or in the bullpen to calm anyone’s fears, making the staff guilty until proven innocent in the eyes of many South Siders.
The last best hope seems to be that the offense will simply outslug the opposition in the postseason, as they’ve done for much of the regular season. Thomas and Ordonez have been the two vital cogs in the league’s most potent lineup, and when Ray Durham and Jose Valentin are on fire, the Sox can pour it on like syrup over waffles.
Pitchers now must give Thomas better pitches to hit at, especially late in games, knowing Ordonez’s growing reputation as one of the game’s top clutch hitters. He’s batting .368 after the sixth inning, turning it up when the game is on the line, and his .268 average with two strikes against him is eighth-best in the league.
But Ordonez isn’t a one-trick pony. He can play the field, as evidenced by his sliding catch to rob Fred McGriff on Sunday; and he can steal bases, as proven by his 85 percent success ratio (17 steals in 20 attempts).
“Magglio is getting into the category of a five-tool player,” Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. “He’s done it all.”
Since their early season success, Sox caps are sprouting like mushrooms in Venezuela. Ordonez said his family and friends watch almost every Sox game on cable-TV back home, and they digest articles on the team that are translated from the Chicago newspapers on the Internet.
“They loves the big leagues in Venezuela,” he said. “We’ve got all the games on back home. We’re on national TV all the time.”
Ordonez is a big deal back home, but once again stands in the ever-growing shadow of Andres Galarraga, the favorite son of Venezuela.
“The only one who will ever be bigger than Big Cat is Simon Bolivar,” said Caracas-born shortstop Ozzie Guillen, referring to the South American revolutionary leader. “Magglio is big there, but he’ll never be `Big Cat.'”
Ordonez may not know it, but his new best friend is Winston-Salem outfielder Joe Borchard, the Sox’s first-round draft pick in June.
Before Borchard’s first professional at-bat, he signed for a record bonus of $5.3 million, or almost $5 million more than Ordonez makes after 1,678 at-bats, 73 home runs and 293 RBIs in the majors.
Ordonez stands to strike it rich in arbitration this winter, unless the Sox sign him to a multi-year deal beforehand.
Considering he ranks in the top 10 in so many categories, including average, RBIs and hits, Ordonez could be looking at a raise of $4 million or more.
His handlers, who include Sammy Sosa’s agent, Adam Katz, will no doubt point at Borchard’s bonus money as reason to amply reward Ordonez for his contributions. The Sox will likely counter that first-round draft picks and arbitration-eligibles are apples and oranges, and that they can pay Ordonez only within the salary confines of other fourth-year players.
Whether it happens next year or later on, Ordonez is well on his way to some huge paychecks, which will likely bring added pressure and responsibility. He vows that nothing will change.
“My goal every year is to get 100 RBIs and score 100 runs,” he said. “Those are the two most important things in the game. I’ve already got [103] RBIs, and I’m almost to 100 runs [85 on Sunday].”
Ordonez’s home run total has been stagnant since mid-July, while the rest of his production numbers have either remained the same or improved.
Ordonez hit his 22nd and 23rd home runs July 15th, but has hit only two since. That’s only four home runs since the All-Star break, after hitting 21 in the first-half.
“You can’t control that,” he said. “The only thing I’m trying to do is put the ball in play. I’ve put up better numbers than last year and we’re in first-place, so this is my best season. When you’ve got big numbers on a last-place team, it doesn’t matter.”
Credit for Ordonez’s steady improvement over the years goes to hitting coach Von Joshua, who taught him to take more walks, and Manuel, who instructed him on a bus trip in spring training not to try and be a Sammy Sosa-clone.
Most scouts knew Ordonez would be a star, but few realized that he would one day become one of the most well-rounded players in the league. Guillen insisted that he knew Ordonez was the real deal all along.
“I remember getting in a little trouble when Magglio was in Double-A,” Guillen said. “When they called Jeff Abbott up, I said they ought to give this kid, Magglio, a chance. A few people were angry with me about that. They told me to play baseball and shut up. Now look at him.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Category Avg. R HR RBI
vs. Lefties .366 — 6 22
vs. Righties .332 — 19 81
Home .348 48 14 47
Away .329 37 11 56
April .281 19 4 17
May .301 12 6 8
June .404 22 7 29
July .313 19 7 24
August .397 13 1 15
Grass .340 77 23 89
Turf .321 8 2 14
Day .354 41 16 51
Night .327 44 9 52
None on .344 — 15 15
Runners on .332 — 10 88
Inning 1-6 .325 62 19 80
Inning 7+ .368 23 6 23
vs. Anaheim .303 1 0 3
vs. Baltimore .344 5 0 3
vs. Boston .379 7 3 11
vs. Cleveland .350 3 0 10
vs. Detroit .364 8 2 6
vs. Kansas City .333 8 2 7
vs. Minnesota .414 6 2 4
vs. New York .366 11 6 17
vs. Oakland .273 3 0 4
vs. Seattle .353 8 2 4
vs. Tampa Bay .385 5 2 14
vs. Texas .263 4 0 4
vs. Toronto .214 1 0 2
TOTAL .338 85 25 103
Through Sunday
Source: STATS, Inc.
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