On Sunday, 29 July 2018, Dominican slugger Vladimir Guerrero (Anaheim Angels) was inducted to the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, the greatest honor for a Major League Baseball player. Guerrero is the first position player (i.e. non-pitcher) from the Dominican Republic to be honored. The first two Dominicans named to Cooperstown were Juan Marichal (Class of 1983, San Francisco Giants) and Pedro Martinez (Class of 2015, Boston Red Sox). It is also the first time a Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim player has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The annual induction ceremony took place starting at 1:30pm on Sunday, 29 July at the Clark Sports Center. Guerrero traveled to New York for the ceremony with family members and friends.
Others inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2018 were Baseball Writers’ Association of America electees Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones and Jim Thome. Jack Morris and Alan Trammell were elected by the Modern Baseball Era Committee and joined Guerrero and others elected by the sportswriters.
Since Class of 1936, the Hall of Fame has elected now 323 members. Of these are 226 former major league players, 30 executives, 35 Negro Leaguers, 22 managers and 10 umpires. The BBWAA has elected 128 candidates to the Hall while the veterans committees (in all forms) have chosen 169 candidates (98 major leaguers, 30 executives, 22 managers, 10 umpires and nine Negro Leaguers). The defunct “Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues” selected nine men between 1971-77 and the Special Committee on Negro Leagues in 2006 elected 17 Negro Leaguers.
There are currently 77 living members, including Dominican pitchers Juan Marichal (San Francisco Giants), and Pedro Martínez (Boston Red Sox).
Vladimir Guerrero was born 9 February 1975, in southcentral Nizao, San Cristóbal. He first learned to play baseball with a stick for a bat and lemons wrapped in rags as balls. He was signed by the Montreal Expos at 18 and began his career with the Expos in 1996, batting an average of .323 over his eight seasons with the Canadian team. He signed with the Angels and in his first season with that team, in 2004, became the American League Most Valuable Player after hitting for 39 homeruns. He played six seasons with the Angels and then finished with short stints with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles.
Guerrero retired following the 2011 season with a .318 career batting average, 449 home runs, 1,496 RBI and 2,590 hits. He was named to nine All-Star Games, won eight Silver Slugger Awards. His 31-game hitting streak in 1999 remains tied for 25th on the all-time list.
Vladimir Guerrero celebrated father’s day in the United States in company of his family for the occasion.
His son, Vladimir Guerrero Jr is following in his footsteps. His son is playing in the Triple A League with the Toronto BlueJays. The Hall of Famer’s son is expected to be promoted this year to MLB.
Present for the Dominican Republic at the ceremony were: Sports Minister Danilo Díaz; Luisín Mejía, president of the Dominican Olympic Committee; Vitelio Mejía, president of the Dominican Professional Baseball League and National Baseball Commissioner Ricardo Noboa, and Felipe Vicini of the CRESO pro sports initiative.
In his acceptance speech, Guerrero gave thanks to Canada and Montreal for the opportunities of playing in the United States and Canada. He thanked the fans in Los Angeles and the Angel organization for supporting him during his six seasons playing ball in LA. He also gave thanks for the opportunities provided by his first manager, Felipe Rojas Alou.
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Listin Diario
Listin Diario
30 July 2018
