Though he didn’t make his Major League debut until over one year later, it felt like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. arrived on March 27, 2018.
The Toronto Blue Jays were hosting the St. Louis Cardinals for a two-game set of exhibition games at Olympic Stadium in Montreal following spring training. The games were highlighted by the presence of 19-year-old Vladdy Jr., the son of Expos legend Vladimir Guerrero and the No. 3 ranked prospect in all of baseball at the time.
With the score locked at 0-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning of the second game, Guerrero stepped to the plate and smashed a pitch from Jack Flaherty deep to left-center field for a walk-off home run…
Junior’s home run was like a trip down memory lane for fans in Montreal, as his father hit the most walk-off home runs in Olympic Stadium history. Vladdy rocked Senior’s No. 27 and had virtually identical mechanics at the plate that fans in Montreal were used to seeing through the late 90s and early 2000s.
“It didn’t feel like it was just the crowd here, I felt like the whole world was just pulling for me,” said Guerrero Jr., who used to take batting practice at Olympic Stadium as a child. “And it just makes you feel a little bit more comfortable going out there and trying to do your best.”
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