Vladimir Guerrero Jr didn’t play in the All Star game last night. He didn’t win the home run derby the night before, either. But as tends to be the case, more people will remember the things they saw Vlad Jr do this weekend than any other aspect of the festivities in Cleveland.
Multiple stories came accompanied by headlines suggesting that while Guerrero Jr didn’t win the derby, he certainly stole the show. The legend of Vladdy grew by more than the cumulative distance of his 91 derby home runs this week.
At the midpoint of the 2019 baseball season, Vlad Jr’s demigod mythology grows every night in spite of the fact that he’s in big leagues, hitting a pedestrian .249/.328/.413 and we can watch him every night. He’s a product of our time, when promise outstrips production and nobody seems to mind. Most sports fans care follow sports transactions more than the day-to-day, which allows Vlad Jr to continue existing at the centre of a hype hurricane.
Waiting for The Real Vlad Jr to arrive is not unlike waiting for him to get called up to the big leagues. It’s Kawhi Watch but in slow motion, played out on Blue Jays’ green tarmac rather than at Pearson. It’s the perfect storm of career to this date shows no sign of slowing.
The hype is well earned, of course. To watch him during the home run derby, to observe the violent swing, the brightly coloured dreads flying, the audibles screams at well struck baseballs with a million bucks on the line and, of course, the name on the back of the jersey — the complete package makes believers of even the most skeptical. He’s the big tent, bringing non-baseball fans into the fold by the truckload.
We will continue to wait for his big league production to measure up, but nobody has mastered the ability to create a moment from an otherwise trivial event. The walkoff in Montreal, an early season game against the Oakland A’s or even the once-moribund home run derby, Vlad Jr makes them his. The irresistible force of his swing, the bright light of persona and his personality implants these moments on our collective unconscious. It will only continue, the ongoing growth of a legend none of us hope to ever forget.