VLAD THE IMPALER'S LEGEND GROWING ACROSS BASEBALL
Blue Jays slugger's three-homer night was one for the ages
Cavan Biggio has seen the act before, marvelling at the mastery of his famous Toronto Blue Jays teammate when Vlad Guerrero Jr. was still a teenager.
The guys in the visitors' bullpen at Yankee Stadium saw the second of their teammate's three home runs on Wednesday night clear the fence in front of them before pounding into the wall behind them with a thud. Some of their jaws may still be open in reaction to what almost hit them.
Like anyone who witnessed Guerrero's greatest night yet in a career that is just getting started, Yankees manager Aaron Boone appreciated the accomplishment for the spectacle that it was.
“It's about as impressive as it gets,” Boone said prior to Thursday's rain-delayed finale of the four-game series between the Jays and Bronx Bombers. “A great performance by a great hitter.”
The run on superlatives could be exhausted the deeper the season moves. There have been many big nights of “otherworldly hitting” — as Boone termed Wednesday's display — in Guerrero's journey to this point. That includes a three-homer night last season, though it was in D.C., not at Yankee Stadium in a divisional showdown with the iconic Bronx Bombers.
There was the first homer of his career back on May 15 of 2019 in San Francisco, a momentous night that didn't end before Guerrero made it his first two-homer game. And of course there was Guerrero's towering blast that earned him MVP honours at last year's all-star game in Colorado.
Hitting a pair of round trippers (and a double) off of New York ace Gerrit Cole Wednesday certainly feels like the best yet, however, given that Guerrero completed the homer hat trick later in the game. It may have marked the unofficial kickoff of his campaign for 2022 American League MVP.
The reaction in the New York tabloids Thursday was both cheeky and reverent. “Whose Your Vladdy?” screamed the Post. “Hot Blooded” said the Daily News while Newsday chimed in with “Vlad the Impaler.”
Just when you think you've seen it all with the 23-year-old Dominican, he comes up with a new measure of magnificent.
“I'm used to it,” said Biggio, who grew up with Guerrero in the Jays' farm system and has seen him dominate at every level. “I've seen this since Vladdy was just a teenager doing incredible things. But last night was an unbelievable night for everyone who was here and for Vladdy, of course, but especially for baseball.”
On Wednesday, Biggio had a front-row seat to the drama in the Jays' dugout after Guerrero was bleeding profusely after getting stomped by Yankees baserunner Aaron Hicks, who was beating out an infield single. Biggio was quickly scrambling to come in as a defensive replacement for Guerrero when his pal trotted out to finish the second inning. Moments later, Biggio watched with awe as Guerrero went out to finish the inning defensively and then came back in the third for his second long ball of the night.
“He's always been a great player, but his want to win is getting stronger and stronger every year,” Biggio said.
When that second blast landed in the bullpen, the Jays' relievers just shook their collective heads — much like Cole did on the mound as Guerrero trotted around the bases. And just to add a mythical element to it all, Guerrero was back in the Jays' lineup on Thursday, with two stitches in his finger.
With four homers on the season, Guerrero has now hit 76 in the first 350 games of his MLB career, the most in club history.
As Biggio noted, baseball benefits from superstars and teammates and opponents alike are unabashedly in full admiration mode of one Vlad Guerrero Jr. And yes, great hitters admire great hitters as Yankees slugger Aaron Judge acknowledged on Wednesday.
“I wish it was against somebody else,” Judge said. “I could watch it on TV and not see it live. That's the type of player he is — he can take over a game. The guy is a game changer and he's going to be a tough opponent all year.”