As we all know, Vladimir Guerrero has officially retired from Major League Baseball, even thought the last time he played a Major League game was in 2011. His drive to continue was to make it to 500 homeruns; unfortunately injuries and age prevented him from continuing his career. That, however, doesn’t take away the face that he was a great baseball player throughout his career.
For anyone who has read my stuff before related to the Expos, you might remember that Vlad was one of my favorite players who played for the Montreal Expos, Anaheim Angels, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. He was a power hitter with a power arm, and was a great “bad ball” hitter; it was once said in the minors he hit a ball that bounced off the dirt before it reached the plate and he still hit it over the fence.
Some of his peculiarities included never wearing batting gloves and always dousing his helmet in pine tar and sand from the diamond.
Guerrero might not have gotten a chance to get his 500th homerun, but his stats do suggest that he is a potential Hall-of-Famer. He has a lifetime .318 average, 2590 hits, 449 Home runs, 1496 RBI, and 181 career stolen bases. He made 9 All-Star appearances, won the 2004 MVP, won 8 silver sluggers, 2007 homerun derby and was a two-time member of the 30-30 club (30 stolen bases, 30 home runs). In 2002 he almost made the 40-40 club, but unfortunately just missed it with 39 homers, although he was awful close the last game of the season.
A fan favorite in Anaheim and of course Montreal, Guerrero didn’t speak much English, but his play on the field did all the talking for him. He is considered to be the last great Expo and it is speculated that he could be the last Expo to make it to Cooperstown wearing an Expos Cap, assuming Tim Raines makes it before him.
I was lucky in my life to see a really good baseball player in Vlad in Montreal. I got to see him hit his first Grand Slam on Canada Day against the Pittsburgh Pirates and many homeruns during his time in Montreal. It’s a shame he didn’t make the Blue Jays roster in 2012 – it would have been nice to see him play one last time.
Michael Barrett, a former Montreal Expos catcher, once said in an interview that “Vlad was like the Lebron James of baseball, had he been promoted better; he could have easily saved the team.” I don’t disagree wit Barrett one bit. I think had their been a new stadium or semi-competent ownership promoting Vlad they may still be here, but that’s a debate for another day.
When he left Montreal, I was heartbroken, though I cheered him on for the rest of career and was really sad that he never won a World Series. When the Blue Jays come to town I hope they honor him here – I would love to see him one more time.
I know people think the fans didn’t care about the Expos, but there was a lot of us who cared and we loved Vlad. Easily one of the best Expos of all time and one of the great hitters and players from the Dominican, I hope he makes it to the Hall. He deserves it and that would be an ultimate honor!
Feel Free to leave comments below. You can follow me on twitter @NVincelli, and follow the baseball department on twitter @LastWordMatt, and @lastwordmark. While you are at it you can follow the site @lastwordonsport.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? Find more info at our “Join Our Team” page.
