Familiar face: Ordonez throws out first pitch

Ex-White Sox, Tigers slugger returns to where he got his start

April 7th, 2018

CHICAGO -- Despite retiring from the Major Leagues in 2011, ex-All-Star outfielder Magglio Ordoñez has stayed close to baseball.
Ordoñez purchased a majority stake in Caribes de Anzoátegui, a Venezuelan League team, in 2013. His son, Magglio Ordoñez Jr., played in parts of two seasons in the Minor Leagues. And before Saturday's game between the White Sox and Tigers -- his two former teams -- Ordoñez threw out the first pitch at Guaranteed Rate Field.
"I'm from this house. I grew up here," Ordoñez said. "This is the organization that gave me an opportunity to play in the big leagues and thanks to the White Sox, that's who I am right now."
Ordoñez debuted with the White Sox in 1997 and spent eight seasons in Chicago, but following the 2004 offseason signed with Detroit, where he won a batting title in '07 by hitting .363. 
With both teams currently rebuilding, Ordoñez drew parallels between his playing career and the current rosters.
"When they did the rebuild with the White Sox, we weren't really close to winning the division," Ordoñez said. "Cleveland was too strong. Also, [when] they did it with the Tigers, they signed me. It took only three or four years.
"When you sign good players, you have a good system, it clicks like that," Ordoñez added, referring to the Tigers' mid-2000s rebuild and '06 American League championship.
As for his future in baseball, Ordoñez, 44, said he would consider coaching sometime down the road but doesn't have any immediate plans. Right now, he said, he's enjoying spending time with his four kids.
"I don't think I'm ready [to coach] right now," Ordoñez said. "You do this all your life, you always want to be involved in baseball. So now I'm looking for different options and we'll see what happens."