Vladmir Guerrero retires

Earlier today Vladimir Guerrero announced his retirement closing the books on what may be a Hall of fame career. But what made him a potential Hall of Famer is unbelievable talent. He hit .318/.379/.553 in his career playing for 4 teams (Expos, Angels, Rangers, and O's). He hit 449 home runs and drove in 1496. He was known as an exceptional bad ball hitter being able to take pitches way out of the strike zone and clobber it.

He was a player who any team wanted and even in his final season in 2011 he managed to hit .290 with 13 home runs and 163 hits. He rarely struck out as he K’d only 985 times in his 16 year career but he walked only 737 which can be attributed to his talent at hitting bad pitches.

His best season was probably his MVP season of 2004 where he hit .337/.391/.598 with 39 homers and 129 RBIs. He even stole 15 bases which would tie for the highest for the remainder of his career (he also had 15 in 2006). He banged 39 doubles and 2 triples giving him 80 extra-base hits on the season. What was even better was the Angels made the playoffs but ended up being swept by the eventual World Series Champions the Boston Red Sox.

His time with the Montreal Expos is probably what he is most known for as he was a lifetime .323/.390/.588 for them while clobbering 234 home runs and driving in 702. He stole 123 bases for them as well. He eventually signed with the Angels as a free agent after the 2003 season and played 6 solid seasons for them including the MVP season of 2004 and he hit .319/.381/.546 with 173 homers and 616 RBIs. Towards the end of his tenure in Anaheim his performance began to decline and he moved to the Texas Rangers for the 2010 season and proceeded to hit .300 with 29 homers and 115 RBIs at the age of 35. He then signed on with the Baltimore Orioles and hit a career low .290/.317/.416 with 13 homers and 61 RBIs.

He hooked on with the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system in 2012 but was eventually cut. He signed with the Long Island Ducks earlier in 2013 but never played a game with them and he eventually announced his retirement.