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Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

d'Kong76 Oct 14 2013 02:33 PM

Mets – Willets Point Oct 14 2013 02:37 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

The Great Rey Debate never gets old.

Frayed Knot Oct 14 2013 02:39 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

No, but for that one season that was the best defensive infield I ever saw. It got to the point where if anything, other than a line drive, got through that infield you found yourself surprised.

d'Kong76 Oct 14 2013 02:43 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Certainly the leather was flashed for many more than only one season.

Zvon Oct 14 2013 02:47 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

I love the glove so I loved ReyRey, but his hole in the lineup taught me you could only love the glove so much.

Ceetar Oct 14 2013 02:50 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Unequivocally. Also, Lagares is without a doubt the best OF on the team next year.

d'Kong76 Oct 14 2013 02:57 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

No glove, no love. And he helped pitchers more than any Mets' catcher ever did.

Gwreck Oct 14 2013 02:58 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Jose Reyes. I will admit, I laughed pretty hard at the thread title.

Edgy MD Oct 14 2013 04:05 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

I liked the way Marty Noble expressed it. "If you drew a circle around second base seven feet in diameter, there was never a guy who played that area of the field like Ordonez. Nobody. Not Ozzie, not anyone I ever saw." The thing about him, to me, is that it wasn't just the high quality and the consistency of the defense, but the creativity. It was an art as much as a craft.

batmagadanleadoff Oct 14 2013 04:49 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Gwreck wrote: I laughed pretty hard at the thread title. You should. It's a ridiculous notion. But believe me, evoking a discussion about Ordonez is about the last reason this thread was started.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 14 2013 04:54 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

He was a source of so much disagreement in the early days. In the final analysis I think he was one of those guys whose ability won him more opportunity than his effort and results ever justified. I don't think the team was wrong to give him a chance.

Frayed Knot Oct 14 2013 05:17 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Kong76 wrote: Certainly the leather was flashed for many more than only one season. Sure, but there are good defensive seasons and then there are ones we won't likely see the likes of again.

metirish Oct 14 2013 06:08 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

As a new Mets fan and indeed baseball fan I couldn't believe the things he did with the glove....as time went on I couldn't believe the things he didn't do with the bat. I will always have a soft spot for Rey.

MFS62 Oct 14 2013 09:16 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

In a close call, I still think Bud Harrelson was consistently a better fielder than Ordonez. Bud prevented bloops down the left field line from turning into doubles better than any shortstop I ever saw. Later

RealityChuck Oct 15 2013 06:41 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Ordonez was probably a better fielder than Harrelson, but not by a while lot. Harrelson was the better hitter, which says a lot of how bad Ordonez was at the plate: Buddy was far below league average. But Harrelson beat up Pete Rose. That gives him the win.

Ceetar Oct 15 2013 06:58 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Total Zone (one of the few defensive stats going back in time) has it Ordonez, Hernandez, Harrelson, Beltran/Ventura/Gilkey at 58,52,41,38/38/38.

Vic Sage Oct 15 2013 09:11 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Ha ha ha... Kase, you kill me. Oh wait, you were serious. Sorry. If by "shortstop" you are talking purely about defense at the position, and NOT ranking the best baseball players to play ss for the Mets, then i suppose there's an argument. Not one i'd want to make, but certainly a valid and supportable one. But as a complete player at the position, i'd rank him 3rd (4th, if you include Hojo), but closer to, oh i don't know, Kevin Elster than to Reyes or Harrelson. Top 10 Mets SSs (with at least 162 games): 1. José Reyes (999) 2. Bud Harrelson (1280) 3. Howard Johnson (263) --- 4. Rey Ordóņez (907) 5. Kevin Elster (524) 6. José Vizcaino (236) 7. Rafael Santana (478) --- 8. Frank Taveras (371) 9. Roy McMillan (335) 10. José Oquendo (183) * Special mention: Al Weis (127), for his role in 1969

Edgy MD Oct 15 2013 09:17 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

In a close call, I still think Bud Harrelson was consistently a better fielder than Ordonez. Bud prevented bloops down the left field line from turning into doubles better than any shortstop I ever saw. Maybe, but Rey didn't mess around: Wanted to find some gifs of him hitting too. Still looking.

Edgy MD Oct 15 2013 09:20 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

The common theme in all three gifs is that the other fielders seem to have this deference, as if it's his world and they're just in it. That's a good thing and a bad thing, but it sure was a fascinating thing.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 15 2013 09:29 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

I watched a lotta games back then, and hafta say, Reyrey changed the expectations you had on bouncers up the middle. When he was out with injury in 2000 -- and sorta, after he came back and stopped trying so hard -- the adjustment was stark. I mean, Luis Sojo is out by 9 feet if he hits that thing in 1997.

batmagadanleadoff Oct 15 2013 09:31 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Ceetar wrote: Total Zone (one of the few defensive stats going back in time) has it Ordonez, Hernandez, Harrelson, Beltran/Ventura/Gilkey at 58,52,41,38/38/38. There are plenty of defensive stats beyond the traditional chances, putouts, assists and errors that go back in time. Just surf baseballreference.com for starters. Ordonez had one outstanding defensive season, 1999, where he might've even been deserving of the Gold Glove he won, and one more excellent season defensively - 1997. Beyond those two, he was nothing special, despite his knack for consistently making visually breathtaking and highlight-worthy plays. In fact, there's plenty of evidence that his backups, Vizcaino, Lopez et. al. were at least just as efficient defensively as Ordonez, though not nearly as pretty to look at. Other than 1999, he was never in the conversation of best fielding shortstop, either in the Majors, or in the NL. He just wasn't that good. But you'd never know it from the constant, constant hype, which had him as the Mozart, Einstein, Picasso and Baryshnikov of fielding shortstops, all rolled into one. And that's before you get to his offense. If you can even find it. Overall, the Mets would have been better off had Ordonez never played a single game for the franchise. Ha ha ha... Kase, you kill me. Oh wait, you were serious. Sorry.... Top 10 Mets SSs (with at least 162 games): 1. José Reyes (999) 2. Bud Harrelson (1280) 3. Howard Johnson (263) --- What do those numbers in parentheses signify?

Edgy MD Oct 15 2013 09:35 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Gamez, I would imagine.

batmagadanleadoff Oct 15 2013 09:37 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Edgy MD wrote: Gamez, I would imagine. Obviously. D'oh.

Vic Sage Oct 15 2013 09:38 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

They're from Ultimate Mets Database, and are number of games each played for the Mets (presumably at SS).

Ceetar Oct 15 2013 10:05 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Ordonez had one outstanding defensive season, 1999, where he might've even been deserving of the Gold Glove he won, and one more excellent season defensively - 1997. Beyond those two, he was nothing special, despite his knack for consistently making visually breathtaking and highlight-worthy plays. In fact, there's plenty of evidence that his backups, Vizcaino, Lopez et. al. were at least just as efficient defensively as Ordonez, though not nearly as pretty to look at. Other than 1999, he was never in the conversation of best fielding shortstop, either in the Majors, or in the NL. well, cite said evidence maybe? Because they didn't talk him up on Sportscenter? Please, Gold Gloves are an offense award, and if the 1999 infield offense wasn't so outrageously ridiculous he wouldn't have won it then either. You're talking about an award Derek Jeter won in 2010 despite hanging out near the bottom of most fielding statistic categories except errors which is laughable because only one shortstop made fewer plays on balls in the zone that season than him.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Oct 15 2013 10:35 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Baby Rey might not have been SUPER deserving of his awardware in 1998 and 2000, as per Fangraphs UZR and Plus/Minus (both of which rate his performance at below-average and average, respectively, in those years). But yeah, Vizcaino (-8 base runs over two seasons, according to fUZR and bUZR) and Lopez? There doesn't appear to be the evidence you're citing there, bml.

G-Fafif Oct 15 2013 12:20 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Harrelson was a top-notch defender and, like Grote, informed my conception of how his position was supposed to be played. Reyes was clearly the best two-way shortstop the Mets have ever had. But Ordonez...I think I'd pay 1999 Mezzanine prices just to sit and watch him field grounders into submission for three hours.

Gwreck Oct 15 2013 12:50 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

G-Fafif wrote: I'd pay 1999 Mezzanine prices $12, if I'm remembering right.

G-Fafif Oct 15 2013 01:23 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Gwreck wrote: G-Fafif wrote: I'd pay 1999 Mezzanine prices $12, if I'm remembering right. Sold!

Zvon Oct 15 2013 03:30 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

I hate to say it cuz I love flashy fielders but I'd take Buddy over Rey any day. And I never thought of Buddy as flashy, but he was as solid as they get at short. At the plate Harrelson carried his weight.

d'Kong76 Oct 15 2013 05:10 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Buddy is one of my favorite Mets. Used to sponsor his bbr-dotcom page until the renewal rate got crazy.

Zvon Oct 15 2013 05:15 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Kong76 wrote: Buddy is one of my favorite Mets. Used to sponsor his bbr-dotcom page until the renewal rate got crazy. Ditto. I'm sure I've told all my Met stories here more than once so I'll spare you the Buddy/postcard/autograph tale. A very approachable and sincerely nice guy.

d'Kong76 Oct 15 2013 05:17 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Re-tell the tale ... it's a long ways 'til pitchers and catchers.

Zvon Oct 15 2013 05:29 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

I'm actually writing this up for a blog post. Buddy will get his own page. Long story real short, while boarding the team bus out in back of Shea after a game he (and all the Mets) came out and were not stopping to give autographs. They had a plane to catch or something. But Bud was prepared. He had a stack of around two dozen postcards (the picture was a drawing of fans with banners at Shea around the border) that he had already autographed. He was handing them out as he walked by. When he got to the bus he still had a bunch left and as he went to hand one to me, he looked at me and asked "If I give the rest of these to you will you keep one and pass the rest around?" I said" Sure Buddy! Gimme those!" He did and I did. I kept two.

Frayed Knot Oct 15 2013 06:14 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Kong76 wrote: Buddy is one of my favorite Mets. Used to sponsor his bbr-dotcom page until the renewal rate got crazy. And, for those who grew up in and around north-central Long Island, seeing Buddy at various local spots was not an uncommon occurrence back in the day.

Ashie62 Oct 15 2013 07:22 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

I was sitting in my orthodontists chair getting tortured when Buddy and Rose happened...

Rockin' Doc Oct 15 2013 09:25 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

0rdonez was certainly a solid defender, capable of making some truly spectacular plays. He was quite flashy and I always had the sense that he sometimes made the more routine plays look more spectacular than they really were. Still, in the end, he was a solid defensive shortstop that was great fun to watch. He was essentially a liability at the plate. His poor plate discipline resulted in his striking out far more often than he walked. Coupled with his lack of power, his OBP was absolutely criminal, in my view. Buddy wasn't flashy, but he was solid. Buddy didn't hit much either, but he mostly played in an era when shortstops were expected to be defensive stalwarts and their offensive contributions were generally considered to be secondary. Rey, on the other had played in an ere when shortstops were expected to be more than just a glove. ARod, Jeter, Garciaparra, Larkin, and Ripken were contemporaries of Ordonez. Rey wasn't remotely in their class. Rey was a throwback player who was simply 2-3 decades too late.

Elster88 Oct 18 2013 11:27 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Was Rey Ordonez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Oct 19 2013 08:25 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

bump (in the bathroom at Tunnel with Straw)

Ashie62 Oct 19 2013 11:13 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Rockin' Doc wrote: 0rdonez was certainly a solid defender, capable of making some truly spectacular plays. He was quite flashy and I always had the sense that he sometimes made the more routine plays look more spectacular than they really were. Still, in the end, he was a solid defensive shortstop that was great fun to watch. He was essentially a liability at the plate. His poor plate discipline resulted in his striking out far more often than he walked. Coupled with his lack of power, his OBP was absolutely criminal, in my view. Buddy wasn't flashy, but he was solid. Buddy didn't hit much either, but he mostly played in an era when shortstops were expected to be defensive stalwarts and their offensive contributions were generally considered to be secondary. Rey, on the other had played in an ere when shortstops were expected to be more than just a glove. ARod, Jeter, Garciaparra, Larkin, and Ripken were contemporaries of Ordonez. Rey wasn't remotely in their class. Rey was a throwback player who was simply 2-3 decades too late. I'm thinking of Mark Belanger...Dal Maxvill...

Edgy MD Oct 19 2013 01:15 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Rey-O may have struck out more than he walked (a rare occurrence), but he really didn't strike out that much. The hand eye coordination that made him a marvel in the field made him also a good bet to make contact at the plate. It just wasn't, you know, effective contact. I think Lunch's on-air call with Francessa was defending BV for putting the hit-and-run on with Rey.

Ashie62 Oct 19 2013 04:12 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Career Stats Reyo 973 Games 767 Hits 339 K's .246 BA Buddy 1533 Games 1120 Hits 653 K's .236 BA

dinosaur jesus Oct 19 2013 05:27 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Ashie62 wrote: Career Stats Reyo 973 Games 767 Hits 339 K's .246 BA Buddy 1533 Games 1120 Hits 653 K's .236 BA Ordonez: .246 BA, .289 OBP, .310 SLG, .600 OPS, 59 OPS+ Harrelson: .236, .327 OBP, .288 SLG (!), .616 OPS, 76 OPS+ As weak-hitting shortstops go, I see Harrelson in the second tier, with Larry Bowa, Don Kessinger, Roy McMillan, and Dick Schofield (both of them). First tier is guys like Maury Wills and Ozzie. Third tier is, like, Roger Metzger, Rafael Santana, Ozzie Guillen. Rey is in the fourth tier with Dal Maxvill--about as bad a hitter as you can be and play every day. After that you're in Ray Oyler territory, where the best glove in the world won't keep you in the lineup.

Edgy MD Oct 19 2013 06:05 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

I want to be a FTWH shortstop.

RealityChuck Oct 19 2013 09:24 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Ashie62 wrote: Buddy wasn't flashy, but he was solid. Buddy didn't hit much either, but he mostly played in an era when shortstops were expected to be defensive stalwarts and their offensive contributions were generally considered to be secondary. Rey, on the other had played in an ere when shortstops were expected to be more than just a glove. ARod, Jeter, Garciaparra, Larkin, and Ripken were contemporaries of Ordonez. Rey wasn't remotely in their class. Rey was a throwback player who was simply 2-3 decades too late. I'm thinking of Mark Belanger...Dal Maxvill... Ray Oyler? :) Managed to play over 500 games in the majors, with a line of .175/.258/.251. Regular shortstop of the 1968 Tigers world championship team; his line that year was an uneviable .135/.213./.186. The Tigers took their center fielder, Mickey Stanley, who had a grand total of 6 starts at short in his career (all coming after the Tigers had clinched) and made him their starting shortstop for the World Series.

Ashie62 Oct 20 2013 05:27 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

All Star & Gold Glover sixties Eddie Brinkman of the Senators clocking in with a lifetime BA of .226 and a very low K percentage....

Vic Sage Oct 20 2013 09:25 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

As weak-hitting shortstops go, I see Harrelson in the second tier, with Larry Bowa, Don Kessinger, Roy McMillan, and Dick Schofield (both of them). First tier is guys like Maury Wills and Ozzie. Third tier is, like, Roger Metzger, Rafael Santana, Ozzie Guillen. Rey is in the fourth tier with Dal Maxvill--about as bad a hitter as you can be and play every day. After that you're in Ray Oyler territory, where the best glove in the world won't keep you in the lineup. the FTWH sstops would also include Aparicio, Bert Campaneris and maybe Vizquel. Dave Concepcion would be at the top of the tier, falling just a little short of being on the bottom tier of GOOD-hitting sstops.

batmagadanleadoff Oct 20 2013 09:41 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

dinosaur jesus wrote: As weak-hitting shortstops go, I see Harrelson in the second tier, with Larry Bowa, Don Kessinger, Roy McMillan, and Dick Schofield (both of them). First tier is guys like Maury Wills and Ozzie. Third tier is, like, Roger Metzger, Rafael Santana, Ozzie Guillen. Rey is in the fourth tier with Dal Maxvill--about as bad a hitter as you can be and play every day. After that you're in Ray Oyler territory, where the best glove in the world won't keep you in the lineup. Rey Ordonez was about as bad a hitter as Ray Oyler was, maybe a hair better. A hair. Ordonez ought to be ranked in whatever tier Oyler is ranked in. That Rey played everyday is on the Wilpons, or perhaps Steve Phillips -- definitely not Bobby Valentine. But that the Mets were stupid enough to let this fraud of a baseball player play as much as he did shouldn't elevate Rey in any rankings. By playing more instead of less, Rey O probably hurt the Mets more than Ray O hurt the Tigers. I like the way the Tigers played Stanley at short in the WS. Just more proof that hitting is way more important than fielding. Ordonez would've needed five years to hit as many HR's as Melvin Mora hit for the Mets during the couple of weeks he played short in 2000 before the media seemingly ran Mora out of town because he made a couple of errors, too.

Vic Sage Oct 21 2013 08:33 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

In terms of value of offense at SS over defense, Davey used to play Hojo a significant number of innings at SS each year (from 1985-1990, over 1 full season's worth overall during those 6 seasons), even when Kevin Elster was there. And when GG shortstop Buddy Harrelson took over from Davey early in 1990, and managed through most of `91, he continued to play Hojo there about the same amount, sitting Elster on occasion. Frankly, i would've played him there every day and let him become Ernie Banks, while also making room for more ABs for Gregg Jeffries at 3b. But that's me.

dinosaur jesus Oct 21 2013 09:17 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Vic Sage wrote: In terms of value of offense at SS over defense, Davey used to play Hojo a significant number of innings at SS each year (from 1985-1990, over 1 full season's worth overall during those 6 seasons), even when Kevin Elster was there. And when GG shortstop Buddy Harrelson took over from Davey early in 1990, and managed through most of `91, he continued to play Hojo there about the same amount, sitting Elster on occasion. Frankly, i would've played him there every day and let him become Ernie Banks, while also making room for more ABs for Gregg Jeffries at 3b. But that's me. Except Ernie Banks was a good fielder. Davey tended to choose offense over defense (Wally Backman over Brian Giles, for example), but HoJo and Jefferies on the same side of the infield every day was probably too scary a thought even for him.

vtmet Oct 21 2013 06:23 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

in answer to the title thread: no... IMO, Jose Reyes was a far superior overall player... and for his era, I prefered Buddy Harrelson over Ordonez...

vtmet Oct 21 2013 06:35 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Are we doing one of these for each position? 2nd base and 1st base have a few interesting options, with several having success in limited timeframes...

SteveJRogers Oct 22 2013 03:51 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

vtmet wrote: Are we doing one of these for each position? 2nd base and 1st base have a few interesting options, with several having success in limited timeframes... The thread is a rib on the Grote one, considering the SI cover proclaiming the 1999 infield as the best ever, but if you want to throw up threads for other positions, have at it.

d'Kong76 Oct 22 2013 08:11 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

1/4 rib on Grote thread 1/4 re-visit to all threads lead to Rey 1/2 stepping stone for someone else to follow suit and do another position in the same spirit Thanks to Jeets for trying to explain.

Zvon Oct 25 2013 02:15 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

I always bitch about how bobbleheads never look like the guy, but now I see when they do they can look a lil creepy. Lil bit.

G-Fafif Oct 30 2013 11:40 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Ken Rosenthal invokes the Mets' greatest (fielding) shortstop ever by way of saluting Tim McCarver. Tim is the only baseball analyst who has worked for all four major networks. What astonished me about him in his later years — when I worked with him — is that he lost none of his passion, none of his curiosity, none of his love for the game or even its language. I can’t tell you how many times I heard him tell a player or manager before a game, “I have never heard that term before.” And then he would use that term on the broadcast, drawing sheer delight out of what he had learned. I don’t see Joe and Tim often — really, only at the games we work together. But I would relish the stories Tim would tell, stories about Bob Gibson, about Tom Seaver, about how the Red Sox’s Carl Yastrzemski stunned the Cardinals by taking extra hitting after the Sox lost Game 1 of the 1967 World Series. So many media companies lack institutional memory. Not Fox for the past 18 years. Not with Tim McCarver. We would talk while walking between clubhouses, going one from one meeting with a manager to another. During one such conversation in the middle of the ALCS, Tim told me that the Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias reminded him of another defensive wizard from Cuba, former Mets shortstop Rey Ordonez. I agreed, then said, “Wonder if they know each other. I’ll ask him.” It turned out Iglesias did know Ordonez, had met him, was aware that he had won three Gold Gloves. I relayed the information to Tim, and he mentioned it on the broadcast. Stuff like that happened all the time. And it was such fun. I’m sure Fox will replace Tim with someone younger, but good luck to that analyst trying to match Tim’s work ethic.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 30 2013 11:52 AM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

Ron Darling. The end.

G-Fafif Nov 19 2013 01:29 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

[youtube:1coc1ibf]7rEGl6n2cvA[/youtube:1coc1ibf] Where it began...

metirish Nov 19 2013 01:34 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

"He was on his knees Fran"......Healy left speechless.

Edgy MD Nov 19 2013 01:41 PM Re: Was Rey Ordoņez the Greatest Mets' Shortstop Ever?

How about Gilkey spiking that 80-foot throw to set it up?