Magglio Ordonez
The most underappreciated hitter of the 2000s might be Magglio Ordonez, whose .309 career average across 15 seasons tells only part of his story. That 2007 campaign with Detroit stands as one of the decade's finest offensive seasons — a .363 average with 28 homers and 139 RBI that helped carry the Tigers to the American League Championship Series.
Ordonez mastered the art of situational hitting in ways that pure numbers can't capture. His OPS+ of 114 across nearly 7,000 at-bats demonstrates remarkable consistency for a player who transitioned from Chicago's hitter-friendly environment to Detroit's spacious Comerica Park without missing a beat.
The Venezuelan outfielder's six All-Star selections and three Silver Sluggers reflect a player who combined contact skills with legitimate power, reaching 294 career home runs while striking out at rates that seem quaint by today's standards.
Career · Batting
15 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | CWS | 21 | 69 | 4 | 11 | .319 | .918 | 121 |
| 1998 | CWS | 145 | 535 | 14 | 65 | .282 | .741 | 98 |
| 1999 | CWS | 157 | 624 | 30 | 117 | .301 | .858 | 110 |
| 2000 | CWS | 153 | 588 | 32 | 126 | .315 | .917 | 117 |
| 2001 | CWS | 160 | 593 | 31 | 113 | .305 | .914 | 120 |
| 2002 | CWS | 153 | 590 | 38 | 135 | .320 | .978 | 131 |
| 2003 | CWS | 160 | 606 | 29 | 99 | .317 | .926 | 123 |
| 2004 | CWS | 52 | 202 | 9 | 37 | .292 | .836 | 110 |
| 2005 | DET | 82 | 305 | 8 | 46 | .302 | .795 | 106 |
| 2006 | DET | 155 | 593 | 24 | 104 | .298 | .827 | 108 |
| 2007 | DET | 157 | 595 | 28 | 139 | .363 | 1.029 | 136 |
| 2008 | DET | 146 | 561 | 21 | 103 | .317 | .869 | 116 |
| 2009 | DET | 131 | 465 | 9 | 50 | .310 | .804 | 107 |
| 2010 | DET | 84 | 323 | 12 | 59 | .303 | .852 | 117 |
| 2011 | DET | 92 | 329 | 5 | 32 | .255 | .634 | 88 |
| Career | 1848 | 6978 | 294 | 1236 | .309 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.