Magglio Ordonez announces bid for Mayor of Venezuelan town

Six-time MLB All-Star Magglio Ordonez announced his bid for Mayor of a town in Venezuela. (Mark Cunningham/Getty Images) Former MLB All-Star Magglio Ordonez

Six-time MLB All-Star Magglio Ordonez announced his bid for Mayor of a town in Venezuela. (Mark Cunningham/Getty Images)

Former MLB All-Star Magglio Ordonez has announced that he will run for Mayor of the Venezuelan oil town Puerto La Cruz, according to a report Tuesday from Bloomberg-BusinessWeek. Ordonez will run on the socialist line in the footsteps of the late President Hugo Chavez, who died of cancer in March.

President Nicolas Maduro, the successor to Chavez, said on state television that he invites the 39-year-old Ordonez to "hit a grand slam in Puerto La Cruz."

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Ordonez, who split his career between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers, officially retired in 2012 after finishing his career in 2011 with the Tigers and then moved to his native Venezuela. He lives in Puerto La Cruz, a city of approximately 500,000 people situated about 186 miles east of Caracas.

Despite a rather disappointing final season in the majors -- hitting just .255 with five home runs -- Ordonez has a career batting average of .309 with 294 home runs and 1,236 RBIs in 15 seasons. He was the runner-up for the AL MVP in 2007, the same season he won the AL batting title.