Vladimir Guerrero
Vladimir Guerrero burst onto the scene in the late 1990's with the Montreal Expos, and it didn't take long before he became a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate. He was notorious for swinging at almost any pitch, but he was skilled enough that it didn't hamper his career.
He spent 8 years playing for Montreal, and during that time he was involved in two of the most amazing plays ever seen. The first came at the plate, where he cemented his reputation as a bad-ball hitter, when he got a hit off a pitch that had bounced before reaching the plate. Not only did the ball bounce, his bat also hit the ground as he was swinging, but he reached base safely nonetheless.
His most amazing defensive play came in 2001, when a ball was hit into deep right field, where Guerrero fielded it off one bounce, then threw a perfect strike of about 300 feet straight into the catcher's glove to tag out a runner trying to score from second. That throw can be seen in the highlight video attached to the end of this post.
In 2002, he led the league in hits and total bases, and came just one home run short of joining the very exclusive 40-40 club, as he posted a career high with 40 steals that year. The next season he was slowed by a back injury, and he became a free agent for the first time at the end of the season.
He decided to join the Angels for the 2004 season, and he had one of his very best seasons right away. He led the league with 124 runs, 366 total bases, and tied his career high with 206 hits. In September, he won the Player of the Month award after batting .371 with 10 home runs as they came back from a 3-game deficit to win the division and make the playoffs.
He did not play well in the playoffs, getting only 2 hits, though one of them was a grand slam, so it didn't look quite as bad. His overall numbers dropped slightly the next season, but he was still the best player in the AL, though it's very difficult to repeat as MVP when your numbers drop, so he ended up 3rd in the voting.
He continued to guide the Angels to the playoffs nearly every year, and while his playoff stats improved over the next few years, they were never quite able to break through to the World Series. He left for Texas before the 2010 season, where he was able to finally break through and get to the World Series, knocking in 3 runs in the deciding Game 6 of the ALCS. He did not end up with a championship ring, but it further cemented his status as an all-time great.
Guerrero may have been famous for swinging at bad pitches, but despite that, he never reached 100 strikeouts in a season, an amazing feat given his reputation. He is the Expos all-time leader in several categories, and had two MVP-caliber seasons in Anaheim. He maintained a high level of play for well over a decade, and as a result he is a part of my list of the best players of all time.
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