Vladimir Guerrero: From the Dominican Republic to Cooperstown?
Vladimir Guerrero is in his first year of eligibility for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. For myself and maybe others, when hitters come calling for election to the Hall, I always ask just one question. Did that player put the fear of God into opposing pitchers and teams on the other side of the field?
No stat indicates that better than the number of times he was walked intentionally. Vladimir Guerrero led the league five times in that category, including four years in a row from 2005 through 2008. Only four players ever had more in their career.
Vladimir Guerrero did not get 3,000 hits or 500 home runs, the usual “automatics” when gauging hitters for the HOF. He never won a batting title, and he never won a world championship.
But here’s what he did accomplish. He had almost 2,600 hits, 449 home runs (averaging 33 per season), 1,500 RBI (113 per season), nine All-Star Game selections (including eight in a row), a career batting average of .318, and he had a gun in right field finishing in the top five for double plays turned by an outfielder. So, he has the credentials to at least be in the conversation.
Vladimir Guerrero Dominated Baseball in His Era
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Do his numbers blow you away? Of course not. But who says they have to? And there’s no need to start a war here by cherry-picking players who are in the HOF with less impressive numbers. The main question, though, should always be did that player dominate in the time he played? Was he noticed, did he stand out from all the rest in his era? During the steroid era, for instance, you wouldn’t rank a player with 45 home runs the same way as if he hit that many today, or when Babe Ruth was hitting that many.
So hopefully we’re over that hump with respect to Vladimir Guerrero and we agree that he is a legitimate candidate for election to the Hall, at least from the standpoint of his numbers.
He Played the Game with a Flair That Could Hurt Him
But there is another element that may have a bearing on his election. Vladimir Guerrero played baseball with a flair. He might have even been the first Dominican to introduce that style of play to the American game. I don’t recall that he was a “bat flipper” or anything like that, but he always seemed to be one of those larger-than-life personalities that strike the game of baseball every once in a while.
And that might hurt him, at least initially. And some writers might be driven to say, “He’s in, but let’s make him sweat it out for a few years.”
In fact, there’s still evidence that Vladimir Guerrero is still sort of, shall we say, in love with himself. In a brief story that appeared in MLB’s Cut 4, there’s a photo of a hillside that Guerrero bought in his homeland that has the number he wore (27) artistically done up. Check it out on Twitter.
Next: Billy Beane Is At It Again
Later today, I’ll be casting my Hall of Fame ballot as a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA). Vladimir Guerrero will receive a check mark.