Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been the face of the Toronto Blue Jays for six years and he received some long overdue paraphernalia from his neighbours this week.
Like many Toronto residents, Vladdy has adopted the Maple Leafs and acquired a white hat with the team insignia during a trip to Fenway Park as the Blue Jays squared off against the Boston Red Sox.
OFFICIAL: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has acquired THIS Toronto Maple Leafs hat from a #BlueJays fan in exchange for an autographed baseball 🏒
Said Vlad about the transaction: “I need my own hockey jersey, like my friend George Springer” 🤣 pic.twitter.com/hxBC6F7ARl
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 27, 2024
“I need my own hockey jersey, like my friend George Springer,” Guerrero told the Jays’ social team.
During an August 7 game against the Baltimore Orioles, the Blue Jays issued George Springer replica hockey jerseys to the first 15,000 fans in attendance and evidently Guerrero Jr. wanted in on the fun.
It didn’t take long for the Maple Leafs to respond with the message clearly received!
We got you 😉 https://t.co/3cueTzELfJ pic.twitter.com/SE0iOvzEK3
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) August 27, 2024
After a slow start to the season, Guerrero Jr. has been on an absolute torrid run this summer, currently batting .321 with 27 home runs and 87 RBI, with a .956 OPS. Despite his best efforts and one of the best statistical campaigns of the year, the Blue Jays remain dead last in the vaunted American League East but at the time of this filing, are on a five-game winning streak. Despite being widely considered one of the best players in baseball, the 25-year-old was brought up in trade rumours but the Blue Jays elected against a full-scale rebuild.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s OPS+ is now a career-high 169, per @baseball_ref.
That’s right: He’s moved past his previous high of 167 in 2021, when he finished 2nd in AL MVP voting.@Sportsnet @FAN590 @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 27, 2024
In his six seasons, Guerrero Jr. has become not only one of the faces of baseball but he’s been one of the most visible public figures in Toronto and it only makes sense for him to rock a custom jersey as the NHL regular season is quickly on the horizon. There have been plenty of Toronto cross-sports interactions over the years: some of us have the Mats Sundin-Carlos Delgado photo firmly embedded into our brains, and several Maple Leafs attended the 2019 NBA Finals, where the Toronto Raptors captured their first-ever NBA title.
