TORONTO – Bo Bichette knows exactly what Vladimir Guerrero Jr. promised to do if the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series: Give his championship ring to his father, the Hall of Famer who only once reached the Fall Classic at the tail end of a decorated career.
Bichette, who has played with Guerrero since both were teenagers, looks at it a little differently. He knows Vlad the Elder, with his 449 career home runs, .931 lifetime OPS, American League MVP award and nine All-Star selections, deserves some shine.
But consider what Vlad Jr. has done: Five All-Star appearances and 183 home runs by the age of 26. A career .861 OPS. The revitalization of a Blue Jays franchise thirsting for a superstar, until it realized one was already under its auspices.
Indeed, Guerrero’s 14-year, $500 million contract extension signed earlier this year ensured he’d stay in Toronto.
But this October heralded something far more elusive than a signature on a contract: Six home runs in 11 postseason games. An absurd 1.440 postseason OPS, with a .442/.510/.930 line.
And the tears shed by a God-fearing, Canadian-born icon in the making that belie his tender age.
So Bo has some advice for Vladdy, the guy he likes to call his brother: Keep the ring.
“I hope he keeps the ring for himself,” says Bichette, who hopes to return from a knee injury in this World Series. “It’s obvious how much it means to him, the emotions he shows.
“But if he decides to give it, I’m sure that means more to him. Watching how much it means to him has been very inspiring to see.”
As the Blue Jays clinched a playoff berth, and then the American League East, and vanquished the Yankees in the AL Division Series, and finally survived seven games to claim the pennant against the Mariners, Vladdy’s final-out stance is well established.
He drops to his knees. He points to the heavens. Before he cavorts with his teammates, he fairly drips with gratitude.
Guerrero came up with Bichette, and reached the playoffs for the first time with George Springer, all the while as the Blue Jays missed out on bigger-ticket additions.
Yet doing it with these guys means plenty.
“It means a lot,” Guerrero tells USA TODAY Sports. “These are my teammates. I feel so good to be here, with them. I feel so proud to win here, with them.
“This is the team that got us here and we are trying to win it all.”
It’s a feeling reflected back twofold. Guerrero has been a Blue Jay since he was 16, the jewel of the international signing class that season, a third baseman with a generational expectation to bear.
Bichette was in the same boat. He, Guerrero and Cavan Biggio – son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio – climbed the organizational ladder together in Toronto.
Bichette has had his injury-plagued moments, his All-Star turns and now this season where he’s rediscovered his top form, only to get hurt just before the playoffs – and his pending free agency.
Still, he remains remarkably zen about it all, knowing what his longtime running mate has done.
“For me, it’s incredibly special to watch him doing what he’s doing not only on the field but as a leader and how much this means to him,” says Bichette. “He’ll be a brother for life, for sure. He means a lot to me.”
Even more to the Blue Jays. Guerrero’s blazing, low line drives have often been described as “two-irons,” zipping up the gaps and down the lines of major league parks. When he elevates?
It can sometimes appear his ball is headed to the heights of the CN Tower, adjacent to Rogers Centre.
His 41-year-old teammate, Max Scherzer, has been around long enough to have given up a homer to Vlad Sr. And is wholly appreciative to own that perspective.
“Let’s just say his dad swung at a few more pitches out the zone,’ says Scherzer of the notorious bad-ball tendencies of the elder Guerrero. “I love that I’ve gotten to have that experience. I love that I’m old and got to play with his dad and now play with Vladdy Jr.
‘I love how much he’s grown, even over the course of this season. We can all talk about his bat, and he’s even leveling up in front of our eyes.”
It’s enough to make a hitting coach take five when Guerrero is in the cage.
OK, not really. David Popkins is too dedicated to his job for that. But he also realizes a hitting savant when he sees one.
“A lot of butt-smacking. A lot of, ‘Good jobs,’” he says, with only a hint of self-deprecation. “Any way I can help at any time. He’s incredible. He’s very talented. He understands things. You might bring something up, and he already knows about it.”
Straight from central casting, you might say.
“If you were to construct a superstar that’s built for the game, you would pick a son of a superstar hitter, that has been around the game since a young child, that has loved every second of it,” says Popkins. “That is literally how you would build someone that’s built for this game.
“I truly believe he’s built for this moment, built for this series.”
Vladdy Jr. sure hopes so. He was born in Montreal when his dad was an Expo and remains determined to win one for Canada.
“Of course,” he says. “Always.”
Four more, he implored the crowd from the stage after the ALCS. Should that wish get fulfilled, the ring will arrive around Opening Day.
And as much as Bichette would like his organizational brother to keep it, Vladdy says no such luck.
“One hundred percent,” he says about giving the ring to his father.
Alas. Yet at 26, Vlad seems confident he’ll get another shot at one for himself, always seeing a bigger picture.
“He’s thinking about the game at a much higher level now,” says Scherzer. “Those are things that, to me, define a superstar.”
