Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Joins Baseball Legends With No-Doubt Homer
The Home Run Derby has been over for four days, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is still hitting history-making bombs.
The Toronto Blue Jays first baseman won MLB's premier skills competition in Seattle, becoming the first player in franchise history ever to do so. Guerrero joined his father, Vladimir, in becoming a Home Run Derby Champion, making them the first father-son duo to achieve the feat.
The younger Guerrero continued to make history when the second half of the season started Friday night, drilling a no-doubt solo home run to left-center in his first at-bat of Toronto's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Guerrero is the first player ever to hit a home run in his first plate appearance after the All-Star break. He also became the fifth Home Run Derby champion to homer in his first game back from the All-Star break.
Prince Fielder was the last player to do so back in 2009, while Ryan Howard did it in 2006, Ken Griffey Jr. did it in 1998 and Tino Martinez did it in 1997. Ironically, Guerrero, Fielder and Griffey are all sons of former MLB All-Stars.
Guerrero is now up to 14 home runs on the season, which is well behind the pace of his 48 in 2021, or even his 32 in 2022.
The 24-year-old Guerrero finished Friday night 2-for-5 with two runs, anchoring a Blue Jays offense that pulled away from the Diamondbacks via a five-spot in the seventh inning.
Toronto won 7-2 to improve to 51-41 on the season, moving them 0.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros for the second American League Wild Card spot.
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