If Blue Jays games getting relegated to YouTube is the price to pay for more mic’d up Vladimir Guerrero Jr, well then throw my Sportsnet Now1 sub into the ocean because I’m all-in on the internet’s foremost source of medical information.
There is no more wholesome video you will watch today than this, a combination of Man of The People Vlad Jr and Washington’s resident Vibes Consultant Gerardo Parra holding court and grabbing ass. It’s magical.
The banter with fellow Dominican superstar Juan Soto is probably my highlight. They discuss off-season plans for a party with “all the big dogs,” a terrific jumping off point for a highly comedic Fernando Tatís impression from Guerrero.
There’s even a heartwarming exchange with Alcides Escobar, of all people, and Vlad Jr interacting with former Expo (and Blue Jay!) Randy Knorr2 about the long-time big league catcher playing with Vlad Sr when Junior was all of two years old.
When MLB and YouTube last featured the Blue Jays, it was Teoscar Hernández wearing the mic while Vlad Jr stole the show. At that time, watching Vlad Jr interact with the other players on his team as well as the opposition, I wrote this:
Being a good person to your professional peers costs nothing, no matter how famous your dad was and how big a signing bonus you earned.
I think a lot of that holds up, not just in the way Guerrero asks Nats players about their families or their braids, but the way they, and Parra in particular, talk about him when he’s not around.
Player after player expresses their appreciation for his success in 2021, with fellow superstar Soto encouraging him to finish strong and “bring this thing home,” presumably the American League’s Most Valuable Player award3.
The whole video is terrific and great fun if you like to see the kind of polite chatter big leaguers get up to on the field. And again, Vlad Jr comes across as a stand-up guy, one who values his relationships across the game and prioritizes having a good time when he can. He’s even cordial with Ángel Hernández , which is more than most of us could muster in the moment!
We still don’t know these men and never will. Heartbreak for fans is always just a press release or leaked mugshot away. But I hope it makes accepting the wins and losses a little easier knowing the people on the field are, at a bare minimum, decent folks with a genuine interest in their friends and colleagues. We should all be so lucky.
lol yes “my” sub
two-time World Series champion Randy Knorr, thank you very much. Knorr caught the ninth inning of Game 5 in 1993, the only postseason action of his 11 year career.
Juan, we should talk…