Magglio Ordóñez was randomly the mayor of a city in Venezuela

When US agents captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores earlier this month, the random pop culture association machine in my head spewed whimsical memories of Magglio Ordóñez.

On the surface, aside from their shared nationality, it may seem strange to link an autocratic dictator with an eccentric former White Sox and Tigers slugger, but their paths crossed more regularly than most would think. 

Indeed, the image that sprang to mind was not of a curly-haired Magglio in the batter’s box, waiting to demolish a pitch, but rather of a partisan Ordóñez on the campaign trail, fervently canvassing for votes.

For four years in the mid-2010s, you see, after hanging up his cleats, Magglio Ordóñez was randomly the mayor of a Venezuelan city – Puerto La Cruz, the administrative capital of the Juan Antonio Sotillo municipality in the state of Anzoátegui – as a Maduro apparatchik. And that astounds me daily.

Ordóñez was one of my favourite ballplayers as a kid. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, the suave outfielder was a hitting savant. A six-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger and 2007 American League batting champion, Magglio was a volatile genius who amassed more wins above replacement (WAR) than David Ortiz, Torii Hunter and John Smoltz in the 2000s. The guy was a quirky, underrated demon, and you could not look away when he strode to the plate.

Nevertheless, nobody had Magglio down as a future politician. Not initially, at least. In fact, if tasked with making a list of the most likely future lawmakers in the early-2000s, the idiosyncratic star would have been near the bottom. Manny Ramírez would undoubtedly have been last, with Magglio perhaps a notch above Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Uribe and Bartolo Colón. Ordóñez even had a Detroit teammate, Sean Casey, nicknamed The Mayor, and few conferred such a moniker on Magglio.

To more discerning observers, however, Ordóñez’s drift into politics was less surprising. According to El País, in 2006, Magglio became close friends with Tarek William Saab, a functionary in the ruling socialist regime of Hugo Chávez and a former governor of Anzoátegui. Saab reportedly mentored Ordóñez and greased the wheels for nascent business ventures spearheaded by the Tigers talisman. (1) Saab was denied a US visa in 2002 because the State Department considered him a ‘person linked to international subversion,’ but Magglio allegedly maintained a professional relationship with him, regardless. (2)

Authoritarian cabals tend to metastasise, of course, a loose web of unscrupulous grifters bound by implied quid pro quo hedonism. Awareness often morphs into association and advocacy in unspoken spheres of influence, with the gullible and the cunning coerced into support. Ordóñez appears to have been gradually sucked into such a rabbit hole, lured by the cult of personality that dominated his homeland. 

By 2009, indeed, Magglio stumped for Chávez as the dictator successfully sought to change the Venezuelan constitution to eliminate term limits and extend his premiership. Ordóñez even appeared in a Chávez political ad and surfaced at a softball-themed rally in support of the Bolívar revolution. (3)  

Riven by inequality, Venezuela is a deeply polarised nation, and many accused Ordóñez of self-serving sycophancy. Once a national idol held aloft as a totem of escapist ambition, Magglio was subsequently booed by Venezuela fans while playing in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. (3) Gangsters targeted Ordóñez when he returned home, while expats regularly chastised him on social media for not using his platform to defend the oppressed everyman. (4)

Regardless, Magglio settled in his homeland after retiring from MLB following the 2011 season. He continued to develop a burgeoning business portfolio, investing in the Caribes de Anzoátegui baseball team, which Transparency Venezuela, a corruption-fighting non-profit, investigated for murky ties to the ruling administration. (5)

Tangentially, Ordóñez seemed to remain connected to Saab, who helped mediate the transfer of power to Maduro after Chávez died in March 2013. Keen to project high-profile connectedness, Maduro used obsequious celebrities as pawns to score an initial populist surge. A future attorney general under the yoke of Maduro, Saab recommended Ordóñez as one such celebrity front, according to El Mercurio, and Magglio was duly endorsed as the socialist party candidate in the Puerto La Cruz mayoral election of December 2013. (6)

“We invite our major leaguer, Magglio Ordóñez, to hit a grand slam in Puerto La Cruz,” said Maduro, signalling support for the former athlete in a municipality of 250,000 people. (7) Soon thereafter, Ordóñez was formally presented as the mayoral candidate at a boisterous, curated rally of pro-revolutionaries. Un lider differente read the slogan on pro-Magglio placards. A different leader. (8)

“We are going to work with all the communities to analyse their problems and, based on that, develop a diagnosis,” Ordóñez told the press. “We will prioritise security, roads, health, garbage collection and beautification. I am here to work with the entire community of the Sotillo municipality, a commitment I have made to this revolution, to Venezuela, and to our Commander Chávez, in addition to the commitment I have made to the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro.” (9)

Overseas career earnings of $133 million swathed Ordóñez in an awkward champagne socialist vibe, but the guy seemed genuinely motivated to help people. (10) Magglio literally went door-to-door seeking votes, vowing to resurrect local sports fields while transforming Puerta La Cruz into an economic and tourist powerhouse. (11) (12) Ordóñez appeared regularly at youth baseball diamonds, where he signed memorabilia for awestruck kids, and he even played in an exhibition softball game for Los Revolucionarios, a hastily assembled squad. (13)

Such outings paid off, ostensibly, as Ordóñez won the mayoral election on 8 December 2013 with 51,474 votes – 50% of the ballots cast. (14) “Congratulations to our Magglio Ordóñez,” beamed Maduro in a televised speech. (15) And soon thereafter, the former ballplayer scored an early public relations victory by helping to clean up campaign placards and materials from city streets. (16) 

Upon taking office, Ordóñez placed a portrait of Chávez on the wall behind his desk, next to a painting of Simon Bolívar, the bulwark of South American independence. (17) Mayor Magglio rarely hunkered down in his fiefdom, however, often eschewing paperwork in a suit for public appearances in blue jeans.

Ordóñez fulfilled all the typical mayoral obligations, from playing basketball with neighbourhood kids and helping elderly residents fit lightbulbs to visiting schools, painting municipal buildings, holding babies, shaking hands and helping clean a canal. He promised to tackle corruption, and made strident statements to that effect, but deciphering sincerity from spin is notoriously difficult in such Machiavellian political climates. (18)

To that end, at least one councilman, Antonio Acosta, accused Ordóñez of abandoning his post and enjoying the excesses of unattainable wealth, with trips to Formula 1 races and Caribbean holidays mixed with frequent flights to the US. (19) Ordóñez denied such charges and pointed to empirical successes, but disquiet engulfed several unfinished projects on his watch – most notably a municipal clinic that remained an empty shell despite receiving 20 million bolívars in allocated funding. (20) Others questioned continued societal inequality, while Ordóñez blamed fiscal stagnation on falling oil prices. (21)

Ultimately, Ordóñez did not seek re-election when his tenure elapsed in December 2017, and he subsequently faded from the spotlight. (21) Magglio has shied away from media appearances since leaving office, and he last tweeted in 2022. Still involved with the Caribes de Anzoátegui, Ordóñez pays closer attention to the Venezuelan league than MLB nowadays, and he rarely returns to the US. (22) 

Politics, of course, is a highly partisan and divisive phenomenon – especially in this age of hyper-polarisation. As such, I do not rehash the story of Mayor Magglio to endorse nor lambaste his political ideology. Likewise, his ties to Saab, Chávez and Maduro are for different investigative journalists to study in greater detail. I simply have fond memories of Ordóñez as a ballplayer and find it fascinating, through a pop culture lens, that he held public office. Twenty years ago, such a suggestion would have been absurd, but here we are, and this is the world we inhabit. Satire infringes reality a little more every day.

Sources

1. Scharfenberg, Ewald. El País. [Online] December 11, 2013. https://elpais.com/internacional/2013/12/11/actualidad/1386736425_459787.html.

2. OFCS Report. [Online] November 4, 2024. https://ofcs.report/internazionale/venezuela-who-is-tarek-william-saab-the-clown/#gsc.tab=0.

3. Pesca, Mike. NPR. [Online] March 18, 2009. https://www.npr.org/2009/03/18/102064696/venezuelan-outfielder-booed-for-supporting-chavez.

4. Volume 60. Baxter, Kevin. s.l. : Information Services of Latin America, 2005.

5. Transparency Venezuela. [Online] July 6, 2025. https://transparenciave.org/el-guante-del-oficialismo-tambien-captura-equipos-de-beisbol/#:~:text=%C2%ABSus%20pininos%20como%20hombre%20de,perfil%20del%20diario%20espa%C3%B1ol%20El.

6. El Mercurio Web. [Online] January 8, 2015. https://elmercurioweb.com/archivo-noticias/2015/1/8/deterioradas-relaciones-entre-alcalde-de-puerto-la-cruz-con-gobernador-del-estado.

7. Fox News. [Online] December 20, 2016. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/former-mlb-star-magglio-ordonez-to-run-as-mayoral-candidate-in-venezuela.print.

8. Prensa Oficial Magglio. [Online] October 26, 2013. https://prensaoficialmagglio.blogspot.com/2013/10/.

9. Prensa Oficial Magglio. [Online] August 12, 2013. https://prensaoficialmagglio.blogspot.com/2013/08/magglio-trabajare-en-los-derechos-del.html.

10. Baseball-Reference. [Online] https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/ordonma01.shtml.

11. Prensa Oficial Magglio. [Online] August 30, 2013. https://prensaoficialmagglio.blogspot.com/2013/08/candidato-del-psuv-magglio-realizo-casa.html.

12. Confirmado. [Online] August 9, 2013. https://confirmado.com.ve/magglio-ordonez-mi-compromiso-es-con-chavez/.

13. Prensa Oficial Magglio. [Online] September 4, 2013. https://prensaoficialmagglio.blogspot.com/2013/09/candidato-magglio-apertura-torneo-de.html.

14. Confirmado. [Online] December 10, 2013. https://confirmado.com.ve/conozca-todos-los-alcaldes-adjudicados-tras-elecciones-municipales/.

15. Press, Associated. ESPN Deportes. [Online] December 9, 2013. https://espndeportes.espn.com/noticias/nota?s=bei&id=1976744&type=story.

16. Prensa Oficial Magglio. [Online] December 9, 2013. https://prensaoficialmagglio.blogspot.com/2013/12/magglio-ordonez-retira-publicidad.html.

17. Worker, The Aid. El Co-operante. [Online] March 10, 2017. https://elcooperante.com/concejal-de-sotillo-admite-que-alcalde-magglio-ordonez-viaja-al-exterior-para-estar-con-su-familia/.

18. Prensa Oficial Magglio. [Online] 2013. https://prensaoficialmagglio.blogspot.com/.

19. Worker, The Aid. El Co-operante. [Online] March 9, 2017. https://elcooperante.com/concejal-de-sotillo-pide-destituir-al-alcalde-magglio-ordonez-por-abandono-del-cargo/.

20. Primero Justicia. [Online] February 22, 2016. https://primerojusticia.org.ve/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26582:luis-barrios-solicito-la-interpelacion-del-alcalde-de-puerto-la-cruz-magglio-ordonez&catid=158&Itemid=537#:~:text=Puerto%20La%20Cruz%2C%2022%20de,millones%20de%20bol%C3%.

21. Beery, Kyle. MLB.com. [Online] September 24, 2016. https://www.mlb.com/news/magglio-ordonez-returns-for-2006-anniversary-c202969730.

22. Abriendo El Podcast. [Online] May 26, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW8KwYdpuGc.