#87 Vladimir Guerrero

Vladimir Guerrero
OF
1996-2011
MVP, 9 Time All Star
Baseball Hall of Fame

I grew up differently than my dad or even the generation before me. I had Sportscenter every morning. I had Baseball Tonight every night, I wasn't catching a two minute sports report on the local news or waiting for the box score the next morning (although I read it anyway). I got to see all the stars of my era, but Vlad was a little different. The beginning of his career was in Montreal who were long past their glory years. They weren't on TV much at all, and they didn't get a lot of run on sportscenter. When you did see Vlad clips it would be of him doing something super human on that bad turf with the weird metric markings on the fence. 

I remember wanting to see more, and having to wait. He's maybe the last ballplayer I remember feeling that way about. Even when he took the money he was deserved and headed to Anaheim he was still playing in the middle of the night for the East Coast a lot of a the year.  Whether there were eyeballs on him or not, the dude could absolutely play. A nine time all star that would tattoo any pitch he could reach (and some he probably shouldn't have been able to reach) with an absolute cannon of a throwing arm. I never saw Clemente play, or Colavito, I saw Vlad and Ichiro the two best arms out there of my lifetime. 

He hit .300 for 12 straight seasons to start his career, he's a career .318 hitter. His .553 slugging percentage is good for 22nd all time. In the ultimate show of respect, he was intentionally walked 250 times good for sixth all time. He hit 449 home runs. Beyond the numbers he was appointment viewing for pretty much his whole career. If Vlad was coming up you put down the remote. 

He was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. 


Anthony Leonelli is a 37 year old College Baseball Coach and amateur baseball arguer. If you wanna know how this list came together check here criteria. He thinks that George Brett winning batting titles in 3 decades is pretty awesome. 

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