Tag: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

A mesmerizing video of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hitting monster HRs with a metal bat had MLB fans in awe

So, that’s what happens when an MLB player gets a metal bat …

Once baseball players join the professional ranks, their days of playing games with metal bats are effectively over. It’s all wood bats, and there’s a very good reason for that:

It’s legitimately dangerous for MLB players to use a metal bat. Just look at what happens when Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got to use one in a home run derby.

MLB’s Twitter/X account shared a video from the weekend’s charity home run derby in Puerto Rico where Guerrero put on an absolute show with a metal bat. If you think he hits baseballs hard with a wood bat, that video put into perspective just how big a difference a metal bat makes.

Any person within 600 feet of that stadium was in danger. We won’t see MLB take a similar approach with its home run derby unless the league wants to clear out the stands and kids in the outfield.

But still, that video was incredible and MLB fans’ jaws collectively dropped watching it. Those were some serious moonshots.

The 20 top selling MLB jerseys in 2023

Which player topped the list of MLB jersey sales in 2023?

When the calendar flips to October, it means one thing for many sports fans: playoff baseball.

Major League Baseball’s postseason is in full swing. It’s once again time for history to be written on the diamond and showcase the game’s biggest stars shining their brightest.

At the end of every regular season, the MLB releases the top-selling jerseys from that season.

Unsurprisingly, the list contains plenty of playoff contenders, a multitude of MVP candidates and simply some of the best baseball players on the planet

Check out the full list below, and grab a jersey to support your favorite player as the remaining lucky few march on towards the 2023 World Series.

Sonny Gray revealed how Twins fans helped him execute a stunning Vladimir Guerrero Jr. pickoff

What a play, with an assist by the fans.

It was, perhaps, the play that changed it all in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card series for the Minnesota Twins.

In the fifth inning, with runners on second and third and the Twins clinging to a two-run lead, Sonny Gray and Carlos Correa pulled off an amazing pickoff play to get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to end the inning.

How did Minnesota do that in the middle of a playoff game with the pressure on? Gray revealed that they had practiced the play in spring training and had worked on it before the postseason … and that Correa told Gray that the Blue Jays couldn’t hear the third base coach yell “BACK!” because the crowd at Target Field was so loud:

@mlbnetwork

Sonny Gray and Carlos Correa were in sync for this clutch pickoff! šŸ’„

ā™¬ original sound – MLB Network – MLB Network

That is seriously great work by the Twins AND their fans. Bravo.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. brilliantly dropped a pop fly on purpose to get a double play

What a heads-up play from Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. looked to have made a strange error while fielding a pop fly, but it wound up being a great call.

While his team was facing the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, Guerrero had a chance to catch an easy out on a pop fly from Reds outfielder Will Benson.

However, Guerrero intentionally let the ball drop rather than catch it to help make a spectacular double play on the Cincinnati runner who was trying to make it to second.

This was some incredibly smart baseball from Guerrero, who evaded the infield fly rule since there was no Cincy runner on second.

MLB fans were mightily impressed with Guerrero’s very clutch decision, which helped get the Blue Jays two outs instead of one.

Sometimes, catching the pop fly is the right call. Sometimes, letting it fall helps you get even more out of the situation than you previously had.

MLB fans couldn’t get enough of Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s super slick slide into second

This slide was so cool.

Slide over, Trea Turner. There’s a new slick slider in MLB.

That would be Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. The Toronto Blue Jays slugger and Home Run Derby champ was seen sliding into second against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, and while his double didn’t perhaps require him to start his slide into second SO early, it didn’t matter.

Because that slide was slick as hell. It was like someone dunking on a breakaway and going between the legs. A 10/10 slide, no notes. It just looked really cool.

Everyone loved it and made comments about it on Twitter on Sunday as the Blue Jays went on to win:

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. adorably played rock paper scissors across dugouts at the All-Star Game

There’s never a bad time to play rock paper scissors!

There’s never a bad time to play rock paper scissors. In fact, mid-inning at the 2023 MLB All-Star Game might be the best time to engage in some fun tomfoolery!

During Tuesday’s MLB All-Star festivities, former teammates Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. played rock paper scissors across dugouts in the early innings of the contest. Guerrero Jr. and Gurriel Jr. were previously teammates with the Toronto Blue Jays. While Guerrero Jr. is still playing for the Blue Jays — and just won the Home Run Derby! — Gurriel Jr. now plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks after a trade in late 2022.

MORE ALL-STAR GAME: The NL All-Stars wore navy jerseys with black pants and MLB fans were appalled at the fashion choice.

Here’s the moment the cameras caught the pair adorably playing rock paper scissors.

Marshawn Lynch draws cheers from Home Run Derby crowd

While Shohei Ohtani and Julio Rodriguez got plenty of attention, the biggest star in this town is still Seahawks great Marshawn Lynch.

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Seattle is the home of the 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star game. Last night was the home run derby at T-Mobile park. While Shohei Ohtani and Julio Rodriguez got plenty of attention, the biggest star in this town is still Seahawks great Marshawn Lynch.

Watch the crowd cheer Beast Mode as he brought out the derby trophy.

Lynch later presented it to the winner, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose father won the derby 16 years ago.

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ESPN somehow mistakenly said Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is from Cuba after Home Run Derby win

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a Canadian-Dominican slugger.

Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won the 2023 MLB Home Run Derby but it didn’t come without an awkward hiccup.

After the victory, ESPN’s broadcast produced a lower-third graphic that indicated Guerrero Jr. joined Yoenis Cespedes as the second Cuban-born player to ever win the MLB All-Star Weekend Contest.

The problem, however, is that Guerrero Jr. is not actually from Cuba. Guerrero Jr. was born in MontrƩal, Quebec in Canada when his father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., played for the Expos. His father is also not from Cuba but from the Dominican Republic.

Guerrero Jr. has a Canadian passport and birth certificate. Growing up, meanwhile, he split his time between Santiago and Don Gregorio in the Dominican Republic and in the United States with his father.

Guerrero Jr. joins his father as well as Sammy Sosa, Miguel Tejada, David Ortiz and Juan Soto as Home Run Derby Champions from the Dominican Republic.

Perhaps what happened is that ESPN loaded up the wrong graphic and was instead prepared for a Randy Arozarena victory. Arozarena, unlike Guerrero Jr., is actually from Cuba.

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9 sweet Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Sr. photos after they’re first father-son duo to win the Home Run Derby

Like father, like son.

How cool is that?

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a Home Run Derby champion in 2023, besting Randy Arozarena in the final round at T-Mobile Park on Monday night.

As many folks noted after the win, he joins former champions including his Hall of Fame dad, Vladimir Guerrero, who grabbed the title in 2007. Do you know who was there in attendance to watch and join him on the field?

Yep, that would be Vlad Jr., as you’ll see below. And Vlad Sr. was the proudest dad on Twitter, which made this whole thing just wonderful.

Check out some photos of the pair over the years below Guerrero Sr.’s tweet:

1 incredible stat shows how Serena Williams and Albert Pujols eerily did the same thing 21 years apart

What were the odds?

Serena Williams and Albert Pujols have dominated their respective sports for so long that the only thing standing between them and retirement this year are historic records.

Williams is playing in her final US Open this week with a chance to tie Margaret Court for most Grand Slam victories all-time. And with a month left in his final regular season, Pujols is just six home runs shy of becoming the fourth player ever to reach 700.

He added to that tally on Monday night, the same day Williams won her first-round match at the Open. And one stat eerily summed up how long these two have been at it.

That’s right, 21 years apart on the same exact day, Williams won, Pujols homered and three separate father-son duos notched hits — and all the sons play for the Toronto Blue Jays. That is absolutely bonkers.

The odds of something like this happening had to be off the charts.

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