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Vladimir Guerrero knows a thing or two about good timing
The former Montreal Expo, which will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame tomorrow afternoon, was mistress of the playing fields. rendering, whether in the strike zone or not
It was also this talent for the speed that had made it into the major leagues in the first place.
Many know that Guerrero has made his mark here, playing in Montreal for eight seasons before moving to the Los Angeles Angels. of Anaheim, where he won an MVP award and won four play selections.
But few know that one Montrealer was one of the first to spot Guerrero's skills, while Another played a role in the maintenance of Major League Baseball
On Sunday, Guerrero will be inducted into Cooperstown in front of a crowd that will inevitably be made up of legions of Expos admirers, despite the fact that he was not a fan. he goes to the Hall. as a member of the Angels. [19659002] This is the story of the two men who booked Guerrero's career: an Expos scout who saw his talent before the end of the first try, and an Expos fan turned general manager who played a role at the end of his time.
"Weaknesses nonexistent"
It was at the end of winter 1993, and Fred Ferreira, a scout of the Expos, had organized a test in the Dominican Republic
Fred Ferreira was a scout for 40 years. [19659011] (xtremelinebaseballschoolcamp.com)
While he was getting ready to start, a man pulled up a motorcycle with a 16-year-old boy in the back and asked if Ferreira could watch another player . Ferreira agreed
"He ran well, he played well, I was excited by his ability," he said.
This player, of course, was Guerrero
After the test, they organized a scrum. . They wanted Guerrero to hit as many times as possible in order to evaluate him, but he pulled a groin muscle his first time.
Her day was over, but Ferreira had seen enough.
His screening report looked like this:
Fereirra's reconnaissance report for Guerrero also appears in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (19659012) [traduction] "No weaknesses found .. "unusual," he wrote
. "I can project some areas, but not as much as I did in his report, as a 16-year-old," Ferreira said, looking back.
He canceled his return flight to Guerrero's home He signed a contract with the Expos.
The cannon of an arm, the power of striking – Ferreira has recognized all the traits that Guerrero has made known throughout his career, which he says is proud.
Guerrero was one of 80 players Ferreira signed who ended up doing it to the majors. He said that it is not surprising that Guerrero has now entered the Hall of Fame.
"The way he played all these years, I had hoped that it would be a positive possibility, year after year, after year."
The pair stays in touch, and Ferreira will be in the crowd Sunday to attend the official induction.
First a fan, then the boss
Alex Anthopoulos, the general manager of the Braves of Atlanta, is the Montrealer at the other end of Guerrero's career.
He remembers the first time that he set foot in a clubhouse of the big league. It was the summer of 2000, and the Montreal native and the Expos fan were in training with his local team.
Anthopoulos also saw Guerrero closely.
Anthopoulos was interned with the Expos and eventually became general manager of the Blue Jays (Mark Blinch / Canadian Press)
"He was an elite player, [a] superstar player at the time, but I stayed in my way, I kept my mouth shut and I did my job "
" The mere fact of being there, of being able to seeing him day after day was very exciting. "
Guerrero was known to be a quiet guy, and did not speak English or French in interviews, but that did not stop him from becoming a star in Montreal, what Anthopoulos believes because he loved the city.This was also due to something else – it was "electric".
"What you do on the ground, it is this to what the fans are going to expect, and he did everything you could ask for on the field. "
Guerrero made his MLB debut in 1996, when he was 21 years old. It became clear early that he would at least have a chance to be a Hall of Fame player, said Anthopoulos. In the space of one year, it was a star template.
Their story ended in 2012 when, as general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, Anthopoulos signed Guerrero to a minor league contract.
Earlier this summer, Guerrero visited Quebec City, Trois-Rivières and Montreal as part of a mini-tour of Quebec (Daniel Coulombe / Radio-Canada)
But at mid-season, things did not work and Guerrero was released.
Anthopoulos may have started as a fan of the Expos, but the novelty was gone, and the decision was purely professional, he said.
It was the last MLB team to sign it, except for a symbolic contract of a day Guerrero inked In 2014, he can retire as an Angel
Then, in 2015 , Anthopoulos signs another Guerrero: Vladimir Jr., one of Guerrero's sons, for an agreement with the Blue Jays.
Anthopoulos can remember seeing Vlad Jr. as a child running outside the clubhouse while waiting for his father. This child has grown up to now be one of the best hopes in the game.
Guerrero sits next to Vladimir Jr. after hitting in the eighth inning of a match against the Cincinnati Reds in 2002. He needed a home run for He became the fourth baseball player with 40 homers and 40 steals stolen in the same season, but he fell short. (Paul Chibadon / Canadian Press)
With the deadline of the MLB, Anthopoulos will not have time to make the trip to the induction ceremony at Cooperstown, NY
But with the way things are going, their story can turn again – if Vlad Jr. follows in his father's footsteps and is also inducted one day.
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