The Smoothest Defender in Baseball History 

We went to the same Sports Elementary school in Havana, Cuba ( Alfredo Sosa Morales) , he was 4 yrs. older than me but already a local legend for his glove work. In 1993 the Cuban Junior national team, which i was part of; played the Cuban National University team that was going to Buffalo where he later defected; I remember before the game he gave me a little smirk while saying my name, he was congratulating me for making the Junior national team since we both came from the same elementary school.

Rey was also the master of the slide/pop up throw move. He would use it to stop his momentum which usually resulted in a strong, accurate, throw.

As a fan of Cardinals baseball, growing up on Ozzie Smith highlights. Rey is the most amazing SS in that time since. I'm happy to see Rey get some love and recognition.

This was my grandpa's favorite baseball player. As a Cuban immigrant, my grandpa always wanted to show me Rey's defense. I grew up admiring the guy, because my grandpa loved him. I admired his defense, as I was a middle infielder as well.

Finally some respect for my favorite player of all time

My brother and I would field grounders from my dad when we were kids and we were usually pretending to be some combo of Rey and Edgardo Alfonzo, aka the most iconic infield duo in Mets history

I’ve been saying it for 20 years , for that short three year span he was the best defensive shortstop in the history of baseball !!!

I love that you made this video. Rey should be more appreciated. But I was pretty shocked that you didn't include ANY of his patented knee slide pop up going to his right. No other player has ever done it. It was art. On identical ground balls, it made Jeter's stupid jump throw look like beer league softball.

As a Mets fan, I've always tried to find highlight videos and people paying homage to Ordonez but never found much. Thank you for making this vid, Rey O was truly one of a kind.

Growing up as a Mets fan, I've never seen such a smooth defender in the outfield than Rey Ordonez. That cannon of an arm can get people out!

Ordonez is so underappreciated. Yes he couldn't hit but boy he could catch baseball all day!! Great defensive plays always put a smile on my face.

Thank you for doing a Rey Ordonez vid! Never see this dude getting any respect but he was immensely important to those great mets teams in 99 and 2000. Luis Guillorme has always felt like the second coming of Ordonez to me

As a Cleveland Indians / Guardians fan I will always put Omar Vizquel at number one and the Omar/Robbie Alomar ss/2nd base years as the best defensive combo basically ever but Ray was always my shortstop pick in ken Griffey Jr. Major league baseball on N64. He was a REALLY good defensive shortstop that was on par with almost anyone.

My dad grew up a Sox fan in Chicago in the late 50s/early 60s. After seeing some Ordonez highlights one time, he said “I’ve never said this in 40 years, but that kid is a better defender than Luis Aparicio. Seen some equal, he’s the first that’s better.” And, that is about as high of a baseball-related compliment he could ever give.

Favorite quote about Ray. Ralph Kiner called him a bible hitter. Thou shall not pass. As in he swung at everything. Also, I wish you included my favorite Ordonez play. It was against to Cubs. A pop-up in the infield just behind the mound created a triangle play and the ball was going to fall in but at the last second Ordonez comes out of nowhere to dive in and catch the ball just before it hits the ground.

I'm not a Mets fan nor particularly a baseball fan, but Rey Ordonez was always one of my favorites to watch. I'd never seen anyone else do his pre-emptive slide into a stop so he could pop up early for the throw. He may not have stuck around in the zeitgeist of baseball for as long as I expected, but that one move really expanded my idea of what defense could be in baseball.

Finally. A video of Ordoñez. I remember he’d always be on the highlight reels in TWIB.

I played shortstop in high school from 98-20 and loved Rey. I tried copying all of his moves. Best defensive SS ever.

Never knew he existed, reminds me of Jose Iglesias as a Red Sox fan. I’ve always liked light hitting defensive wizards at SS.

This guy leaves me speechless with his insane plays

There isn't that much material for how truly great Ordonez is. Much like most of the comments a lot of people appreciated his defensive prowess and was one of my favorite players. You did a great job with encapsulating how truly great he was. Even the YT thumbnail was well done. Truly appreciate your efforts for making this. Took a trip back down memory lane a la Rey Ordonez and his craftsman on the diamond.

In high school all of my boys loved Rey Rey! One of my jv soccer teammates and i used to turn our soccer warmups into Rey Ordonez highlight practices lol. Yeah we got benched a lot.

YES!! Rey Ordonez and Omar Vizquel were my favorite short stops growing up. I remember Ordonez hitting a grand slam for the Mets. He didn’t hit many bombs, he hit for solid contact. But he had that one haha

Grew up in upstate NY in Orange County. My earliest memories of baseball involved Rey Ordonez at short. The best defender I’ve ever watched. Too bad he couldn’t but worth a lick.

Thank you for this. Forgot how good he was, criminally underrated defensively

I miss watching him. on any given play. a jaw dropping highlight could happen

Thanks for the video! Ordóñez was one of the greatest!! He played in Cuba for Metropolitanos which is the second team in Havana, just because in the first team there was a shortstop named German Mesa which is the greatest period, Rey was very good defensively but German was insane, you can look for highlights by German Mesa and second base Juan Padilla for Industriales ( El Duke, Kendrys Morales etc also play here) which is the first team of Havana, and the one that has won the most championships in my country Cuba 🇨🇺

He had a very short career but he’s the greatest SS I’ve ever known !

Thank you for proving that Stat Cast is not only unnecessary, but has taken the wonder and amazement out of the spectacularness of plays.

Rey was a very me man shift. Loved watching him play. Truly the greatest infielder I’ve ever seen.

I didn't even have to watch your video to know he's the best shortstop I've ever seen. I'm a die hard Mets fan since '77. I watched most of all of Rey's games so I've seen him as much as anyone. I also watched Ozzie Smith's career and it's still a no brainer for me. Most of Rey's error's were on routine plays ironically

Part of (arguably) the greatest infield defense ever. If Rey could hit a lick (which he couldn’t) he’d be an all time great. Still breathtaking defense.

You had to see him play to understand how great he was, beyond just the highlights. I'm in St. Louis. We had Ozzie. Defensively I think Rey was the closest thing to Ozzie that we've seen since prime Ozzie. And when coupled with Ventura, Alfonzo and Olerud that Mets infield was ridiculous. Very underappreciated player, and great choice for a video.

Gotta love the Dave Stieb cameo at 10:51

I loved that man, by far the best defensive player ever in MLB

Awesome. I remember being 17 yrs old as a yankee fan loving his shortstop skills.

Always admired this cut of middle infielder. Sadly, they wouldn’t even get a second look from a scout today. Guys like Rey, Omar Vizquel, Jose Lind, Rafael Belliard were merely contact hitters that had gloves that doubled as vacuum cleaners. They had one job, and they did it better than anyone else did their job on a team.

When I was in High School and Rey was doing this nightly were were blown away watching Sportscenter, and you better believe we were trying to be like Rey before practice. Looking back on him now, I think he may be an alien, my guy was unreal!

I’ve seen him play so many games, thanks for making this video. Really underrated.

One of the most amazing things about Rey's 100 games without an error is just how ridiculous his range was. There's a lot of guys who handled what was hit right at them but Rey was able to avoid errors even when the degree of difficulty was extreme. His double play partner Alfonzo was the opposite, very reliable fielder, one of the best ever in terms of fielding percentage but he was distinctly average moving laterally or coming in. That 99 Mets infield is usually talked about in terms of the best ever. It was the best I ever saw at any rate. Ventura at third was an incredible fielder. Olerud was the best receiving first baseman I've ever seen and a big part of why Rey and the rest of that infield committed so few errors. He turned so many off target throws into outs. And Alfonzo was a machine at 2b, if it was in his range it was an out. A lot of it comes down to whether you count the catcher in that conversation. Piazza wasn't a great defensive catcher.

Rey-O was my idol as a young ballplayer growing up. Yeah, he was hard to watch at the plate, but times were different.

I love this account, man. You hear about the best players that are not talked enough in the mainstream.

Looks like I took that guy for granted; more of a Mets fan than a baseball fan, and now in context, I can see that he was sublime.

This is fantastic analysis of such a unicorn player that is certainly among the worst hitters in baseball history while being a must watch player and possibly the best fielding human in Earth's history

The anchor of the 1999 Mets, the best defensive infield I've ever seen.

As someone already pointed out in the comments: he was not the best Cuban SS of his time!!! That merit goes to Germán "The Magnet" Mesa, which was another out-of-this-world defender and furthermore coincided with a great defensive second baseman (Juan Padilla) which formed the best SS-2B pair I have ever seen. One could argue that Ordóñez had more range and was more explosive. Mesa on the other hand was smoother and way more fluid (I kid you not). Mesa was also a decent hitter and one known to show up in big moments. That being said: great video, and thanks for bringing attention to an overall underrated player like Rey Ordóñez.

I like the underrated defensive guys. Would love to see a video on Jose Lind 2B for Pirates he was filthy also.

I wore #10 my whole life for every sport I played because of Rey Ordonez.

Been waiting for this one!

Thank you for this. Rey was incredible in the field, but man he couldn't hit for nothing! Nowadays shortstops are hitters and incredible fielders but Rey was on another level with his fielding. Jose Iglesias, another Cuban, is very similar tho he's had some good hitting years recently. Man Rey was good--SO good!!

One of my all-time favorite shortstops! ⚾️

I saw a lot of these highlights live at Shea Stadium unbelievable to say the least …. Rey O 👑

Loved it! I had the honor to meet him, great peraon, and i caught ground balls with im , in miami when he got there, his hands are out of this world

FINALLY Rey is getting some love. Ordonez is the best defensive SS I've ever seen or even heard about - period. He was so electric in the field - as you can hear in these clips - that his name was hardly ever said without an exclamation point behind it. If he could have just batted league-average I say he'd have been much more well-known and respected. But for that brief, glorious time we got to enjoy the show and jumping up to just shout "ORDONEZ!?" at mind-boggling plays night after night. I mean, just LOOK AT 2:12 again! 🤯 Give some credit to his double-play partners Fonzie and Olerud, too. Combined with Ventura at third, that 1999 Mets infield was where groundballs went to die.

Best defensive short stop ever. Hand down.

my favorite player ever thank you for this !!!

Reminds me a little of Brandon Inge (a third baseman) who would sometimes run into LF to catch a flyball right in front of the left fielder There was a play in the top of the first in the 2009 Home Opener where he ran halfway into LF and caught the ball while he was still running and facing away from home plate

you are taught as an infielder moving towards first to cut the ball off from a stationary infielder. You shorten the time the ball is on the ground and utilize that momentum towards first on the throw. Not only are those plays impressive, but they are also the fundamentally correct baseball play

Definitely remember Rey, he was a beast on the field!

Glad you made this video about Rey Ordonez & kept it real. Dawg definitely was the truth with the glove just couldn’t hit to save his life tho.

Rey swung a pool noodle, and yet was a starting shortstop for many years. That's how good at Defense he was

Pop up slide in the hole, rocket arm to first. Never replicated.

He had great Baseball instincts.

Andrelton Simmons channeled this energy for a while. I don't think there's an active SS on this level.

I was a huge fan of rey. My favorite met of the time. There was basically a daily ordonez highlight on baseball tonight. Early in his career he would make a lot of errors on the easy plays. But when it was all said and done he was one of tje best ss of all time

He is the definitipn of making the diving play

I am glad he is finally getting credit for his play . I always liked his style. Mets had a great team then.

Ah Rey-Rey, I loved that guy! Thanks for reminding me of him SRS!

Footwork around the bag is huge, it’s something that was more important back then than it is now just cause guys are so athletic they do things like field slow ground balls off their right foot so ball is closer their throwing hand and pivots around the bag

The Peggy gif took me out lmao. Great video. Mets are at their best to watch when they have magicians at SS. Ordóñez and Guillorme come from the same stock as far as defense.

Big Mets fan here. I used to call Rey Ordonez "The Golden Retriever" because he'd literally get every ball on the infield. Couldn't hit for anything...unless it was Al Leiter at the plate.

Rey Ordonez is definitely the best minor league shortstop that was forced into a multi year big league career. Especially in this era, heard it wasnt filled with superstar shortstops.

The Best Defensive shortstop of all time!!!

wow, that was a joy watching him operate

Spectaculay SS Rey, i love him.

My favorite mets infielders of alltime are rey ordoñez, carlos baerga, edgardo alfonzo, robin ventura, john olerud, mo vaughn, roberto alomar, jeff kent, jose reyes, david wright, jose vizcaino, todd zeile, carlos delgado and now i add francisco lindor and pete alonzo.

This dude is the master of telling his audience why they should be impressed by something; pointing out the obvious just in case you have no clue what you're seeing.

Great video. Ive got an Ordóñez black jersey and wear it with pride.

what is craziest is that he called off the left fielder coming in on that final play. He had the wherewithal to know the left fielder couldn't get it

completely forgot about this guy, great video

I idolized this guy growing up in the 90s. Weekly web gem. I liked him WAY better than AROD, Jeter, or Nomar.

He was magic!

Part of the best defensive infield of all time. Ventura, Alfonzo, Olerud, Ordonez.

Nice job on the video👌

hey i love Andrelton Simmons

What might get missed in the left field catch is that Rey actually waives the left fielder off at 9:27. He had no doubt that it was his ball. Every time I hear his name, I hear Bob Murphy saying it "Rey Or-don-ez!" (as well as John Olerud's name "Johnny Olerud!" )

Had elite, ELITE body control…no one made defense in baseball must watch TV like he did

In Cuba we always had this argument of who was the best Cuban SS ever if him or German Mesa.

If John olerud would have been on that 2000 Mets team they would have given the Yankees more of a challenge in that world series

Crazy

Middle infielders are almost always great at off-footed and/or off-weight throws like those. He makes that throw because we make those kinds of throws ALLLLL the time. Practice makes permanent.

Loved how you showed yourself in right field lol 😂

Boy, I used to get ticked off at Mets fans who hated Rey. Why did they hate Rey? Because they felt he wasn’t a good enough hitter. My attitude was: the guy is the best defensive shortstop in baseball. He doesn’t have to be a big stick! He was a fabulous ballplayer!

Couldn’t do much else, but man could he flash that leather.

For my money, Tony Fernandez was the smoothest fielder of all time. But I could watch Rey highlights all day.

I played SS growing up and am a huge mets fan, and I would always try to look this cool... it rarely worked and my coach aka my dad... was always pissed

Did you guys forget that *Andrelton Simmons* exists? Other than Ozzie Smith, Simmons is the best defensive shortstop in the history of baseball.

Are you ducking high ??? Omar & Robbie. The end.

My brother's friend caught one of Rey's HR's at Shea.

Being a life long Mets fan, couldn't disagree with you. Although another short term Mets player comes to mind that reminded so much of Rey's defense is Javy Baez! Unfortunately...Javy is now hitting like Rey! Rey and Javy are the smoothies defense/athletic guys I have seen on a diamond! Would love to see a side by side comparison with the eye test and todays analytics. Edge = Rey. Regardless both are ELECTRIFYING! Thanks for the memories brother!