Magglio's WBC hokey-pokey

You know how it goes. He put his left foot in, he took his left foot out, he put his left foot in, and Venezuela shook him all about. So Magglio Ordonez did the hokey-pokey and turned himself around.

As you likely already know (because I'm a day behind on this), Maggs bowed to pressure from teammates, family, and country, and agreed to join the Venezuelan squad in the World Baseball Classic. As MLive's Danny Knobler explained on his blog (fast becoming a daily addiction), Ordonez was hesitant to play, fearing injury and believing that he owes the Tigers a great season for the money he's being paid. But the WBC is important to the Latin American countries involved in the tournament, and he felt he couldn't ignore the call.

Keep your fingers crossed for Magglio's continued good health. As Big Al points out, the Tigers have lacked a legitimate cleanup hitter in their lineup for far too long and it would be nice to see some base-clearing thunder at Comerica Park this season.

And for Magglio's own piece of mind, we should hope he has a good season, too. Check out the lead from Mike DeLuca's story in Wednesday's Chicago Sun-Times:

It was April 13, 2004, and All-Star right fielder Magglio Ordonez was counting down his final months with the White Sox. Free agency loomed, and Ordonez knew negotiations to keep him in Chicago weren't going well. That's when he said something that seemed silly at the time.

''It would be sad,'' he said of a future without the Sox. ''If I went someplace else, then this team won the World Series, I would kill myself.''

Hoo boy. Thankfully, Magglio was apparently on a no-belt-or-shoelace watch during the 2005 postseason. Or he was surrounded by people watching out for him. Maybe he just didn't watch the playoffs and World Series. (And I really can't blame him for that. Despite the closely contested sweep by the White Sox, FOX's baseball coverage almost made me want to kill myself.)

But hey, maybe playing for his country will further rejuvenate an already motivated Magglio Ordonez. Man, wouldn't it be great to see him have a great year?

And maybe it's because I've been largely TV and sports-deprived this week, but I'm getting a little excited about this WBC thing. Anyone else with me? Yes, Beyond Boxscores - I see you there. Sportzilla? Okay, not so much. But I'm looking forward to the USA-Mexico tilt on Tuesday. And what about the Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela? Should be a good one. Hell, I watched some China-Japan action this morning. But not much. Need coffee that early.