The Angels' Star Right Fielder Vladimir Guerrero is Headed to Cooperstown

Vladimir Guerrero, the Anaheim Angels' right fielder, is a mortal lock for the Hall of Fame when he is done with baseball. If he got hit by a bus tomorrow, Vladimir Guerrero would be in, never mind with the numbers that he will be putting up over the next few seasons. A native of the Dominican Republic, Vladimir Guerrero has more than given back to the community, as his various business interests on the island nation provide much needed jobs for the folks there. But what baseball fans will remember about Vladimir Guerrero long after he leaves the field for the final time will be his uncanny ability to hit the ball, no matter where it is pitched.

Born in the south coastal town of Nizao Bani on February 9th, 1976, Vladimir Guerrero was one of nine children growing up in his family. His mom ran a food stand; his dad drove a shuttle bus. Vladimir Guerrero worked on the family's small farm, and he attributes his strong hands to wrestling with obstinate bulls to get them into their pens. His older brothers Elisier and Wilton were scouted by the Dodgers and eventually wound up in their system, but Los Angeles made the mistake of passing on Vladimir, who was then signed by the Montreal Expos as an amateur free agent in 1993. Guerrero stayed in the Dominican with the Expos' squad in the island's league, and though raw, Vladimir hit over .300 in 105 at bats. The idea to use his explosively powerful throwing arm was aborted when he was just too wild on the mound. Vladimir Guerrero dominated at the plate in the Dominican League in 1994, hitting 12 homers in 25 games, and the Expos quickly moved him up to the Gulf League, where he batted .314 in 37 tilts.

A year in Class A Albany and one in AA Harrisburg, where Guerrero led the league in hitting both times, had Vladimir ready for the big club. He was called up late in September of 1996, and hit his first major league home run off of the Braves' Mark Wohlers. Vladimir Guerrero sparkled in spring training with the Expos the following year, but was hit by a Mike Mussina pitch late in camp and missed all of April. A hamstring injury and being hit in the hand by a pitch caused Vladimir Guerrero to play in only 90 games in 1997, but he hit .302 with 40 runs batted in.

From 1998 on, Vladimir Guerrero has been on a tear. Guerrero hit .324 that year with 38 round trippers and 109 runs batted in for Montreal. Each year since, except for when a herniated disc caused him to miss a little under half of 2003, Vladimir has eclipsed the 30 homer and one hundred RBI plateau. He has never hit lower than .307 in that time span. Possessing incredible strength in his wrists and wonderful hand-eye coordination, Guerrero swings at anything close, but makes contact. Despite his propensity to flail away, Vladimir Guerrero has never struck out more than 95 times in a season and only twice has exceeded 75.

The small market, financially strapped Expos could not afford to keep Guerrero, and after the 2003 season was over he became a free agent. His bad back scared off many teams, most notably the New York Mets, but the Angels signed him to a huge contract in January of 2004 and he immediately paid dividends. Vladimir Guerrero was named the American League's Most Valuable Player that November after he batted .337 with 39 home runs and knocked in 126. Guerrero came in third in the MVP voting in 2005, behind Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz, as he hit .317 with 108 runs batted in. In 2006, Vladimir Guerrero has had another fine year. He will bat over .320 with another 30 plus homers and more than 120 runs pushed across the plate. The Angels will not make the post-season, through no fault of Vladimir's, but this will undoubtedly mean he will not be in line for another MVP Award.

This seven-time All-Star owns a number of businesses back home in the Dominican; Guerrero's cement block factory, supermarket, clothing store, farm, and propane distributorship employ many workers. In 2005, Vladimir Guerrero became one of only twelve men to reach the 300 home run mark before the age of thirty and on July 15th of this year he picked up RBI number 1,000 against Tampa. His base stealing ability is not needed as much in the American League, where sluggers rule, but while with the Expos Guerrero swiped 37 bases in 2001 and 40 in 2002, falling just one home run short of joining the exclusive 40 homer-40 stolen base club. But with over 330 home runs and more than 1,050 runs batted in already in his ten seasons, Vladimir Guerrero, a .324 lifetime hitter, will not be excluded from Cooperstown when he finally retires from the game.