And Rowdy Tellez, Brandon League, Curtis Granderson
Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. turns 26 today.
He is 26 years old, and he already has 160 MLB home runs (and that’s with a shortened season in there) and a .288/.363/.500 line.
On our all-time list, Vlad is already:
11th in bWAR among position players.
23rd in games played
12th in runs scored
15th in hits
8th in home runs
12th in RBI
12th in walks
Happy Birthday, Vlad.
Rowdy Tellez turns 30 today.
Rowdy had parts of three seasons with the Blue Jays, hitting .241/.301/.458 with 37 home runs.
Traded to the Brewers for Trevor Richards and Bowden Francis in early July, Rowdy hit .272/.333/.481 with 7 home runs for them in 56 games, and he hit 2 home runs in their ALDS loss to the Braves.
After 7 MLB seasons, Rowdy has a .234/.303/.436 line with 105 home runs.
What might have been if he hadn’t had the injury running over the bullpen mound in Buffalo when he seemed to be having his breakout season?
Happy Birthday, Rowdy.
Brandon League turns 42 today.
League was our second-round pick in the 2001 draft.
League was one of my favourite relievers for the Jays in the oughts.
He was up and down with the team in 2004 and 2005. However, he had a breakout year in 2006, with a 2.53 ERA in 42.2 innings.
Then, he had shoulder issues that cost him most of 2007. 2008 went some better, but he missed time again due to injuries. Finally, in 2009, he got into 67 with a 4.58 ERA, working as a setup man.
After the season, the Blue Jays traded League to the Mariners for Brandon Morrow. I was sad to see him go, but you do it when you can trade a reliever for a starter.
League spent two and a half seasons with the Mariners, making 52 saves, before being traded to the Dodgers. As a Dodger, he pitched in 149 games in 2.5 seasons with a 3.55 ERA, becoming Kenley Jansen’s setup man.
He played 11 MLB seasons, 74 saves, and a 3.65 ERA.
Happy Birthday, Brandon.
Curtis Granderson turns 44 today.
Granderson spent most of one season of his 16-year MLB career (2018, his second-last in the majors) with the Blue Jays. He hit .245/.342/.430 before being traded to the Brewers at the end of August.
Career, he hit .249/.337/.465 with 344 home runs in 2057 games.
He is now the president of the Players Alliance, an organization of former and current players working to improve black Americans’ access to baseball.
Happy birthday, Curtis.