Pedro Guerrero was born June 29, 1956 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic.
Dodger management appeared to believe him capable of any athletic feat, and they thought nothing of shifting him to third base in mid-career. Although he gained a reputation for being shaky at third, statistics show that he was about as good as anyone in the league at getting to the ball.
Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast: Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities. I’m your game announcer Bob Wright.
This is game 08 of the 2010 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 3 week of February.
February 20
1984 Pedro Guerrero becomes the highest paid Dodger when he signs a five-year, seven million dollar contract to play in Los Angeles.
Pedro Guerrero was born June 29, 1956 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic.
Dodger management appeared to believe him capable of any athletic feat, and they thought nothing of shifting him to third base in mid-career. Although he gained a reputation for being shaky at third, statistics show that he was about as good as anyone in the league at getting to the ball.
Originally signed as a free agent by the Indians, Guerrero was acquired by the Dodgers in exchange for pitcher Bruce Ellingsen.
In the minors he made all-star teams at both first base and third base.
Guerrero was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues as a late season call up on September 22, 1978.
Over the next two seasons Guerrero played sparingly at all three outfield positions as well as third base, second base, and first base.
He progressed to appearing in 98 games in the strike shortened 1981 season batting .300. He hit the limelight in that season’s post season when his five Runs Batted In in the final game of the 1981 World Series gave him a piece of the first three-way Series Most Valuable Player award, sharing the award with Ron Cey and Steve Yeager.
In 1982 he became the first Dodger to hit 30 Home Runs and steal 20 bases in a season, and he did it again the following year.
In 1985 Guerrero tied a major league record with 15 Home Runs in June, en route to tying the Los Angeles record of 33. He also reached base 14 consecutive times that year, two shy of Ted Williams’s record, and led the league in slugging, on-base, and home run percentage.
Although an aggressive baserunner, he was considered a poor slider; he ruptured a tendon sliding in spring training and missed most of the 1986 season. His basestealing was subsequently curtailed.
His .338 Batting Average in 1987 was the highest for a Dodger since Tommy Davis’s .348 in 1962 and earned him Comeback of the Year award.
Guerrero was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher John Tudor in August of the 1988 season and missed out on the Dodgers’ World Championship that fall.
He had enough left for one more spectacular season, batting .311 with 17 home runs, a career-high 117 Runs Batted In and a league-high 42 doubles in 1989, but his production fell off sharply afterwards.
In 1992 a shoulder injury limited him to 43 games, and he finished his major league career batting just .219 with one home run.
In September 1999, Guerrero was arrested for trying to buy 33 pounds of cocaine from an undercover agent. In June 2002, he was acquitted of drug conspiracy charges after his attorney argued his low IQ prevented him from understanding that he had agreed to a drug deal.
Federal prosecutors argued that Pedro Guerrero told an undercover agent and an informant that he would guarantee payment for a $200,000 cocaine shipment.
But Guerrero’s lawyer, Milton Hirsch, told the jury that Guerrero was duped by his friend, Adan “Tony” Cruz.
Hirsch said, “He really never understood that he was being asked to involve himself in a drug deal.”
The jury acquitted Guerrero after four hours of deliberation.
Hirsch said Guerrero dropped out of sixth grade in his native Dominican Republic, and has an IQ of 70. He went on to say, “The Miami resident can not perform simple tasks, such as writing a check or making a bed, and receives a small weekly allowance from his wife.”
Another friend of Cruz’s, Lary Mercedes, was acquitted of conspiracy to purchase drugs.
Cruz, who was to receive the drug shipment, pleaded guilty.
Cruz and Guerrero met with two informants and undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent Nestor La Serna at a Miami restaurant.
One informant, who was wearing a hidden recording device, told Guerrero that he was going to sell Cruz 15 “little animals,” and that he understood Guerrero would guarantee payment.
Guerrero allegedly replied, “If he doesn’t show up, I’ll take care of that.”
The next day, according to evidence presented at trial, the informant told Guerrero on the phone that the cocaine was to be delivered shortly and “you’re on the hook if (Cruz) doesn’t pay.”
Guerrero allegedly replied, “Fine, fine, OK, no problem.”
Cruz was arrested when undercover agents delivered the sham cocaine to him at a supermarket near Guerrero’s house. Guerrero and Mercedes were then arrested at the former ballplayer’s home.
Writer Bill James referred to Guerrero as, “the best hitter God has made in a long time.”
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: D
Designated hitter
A hitter in the American League listed in the starting lineup and assigned to bat for the starting pitcher and all subsequent pitchers in the game. The designated hitter may be used defensively, continuing to bat in the same position in the batting order, but the pitcher must then bat in the place of the substituted defensive player.
The designated hitter has been in effect since the beginning of the 1973 season and is used throughout baseball in the minor leagues, colleges, and elsewhere, except in the National League.
During the World Series, both teams can use a designated hitter in games played in the American League ballpark, but neither team can use it in the National League ballpark.
Between 1976 and 1986, before this World Series plan went into effect, the rule had been to use the designated hitter in alternating years.
The first designated hitter was Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees; he drew a walk against Luis Tiant of the Boston Red Sox on Apr. 6, 1973.
The idea was not a new one when it was adopted by the American League. It was suggested by National League president John H. Heydler in 1928, and by others decades before that. Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack suggested in 1906 that the pitcher be denied a chance to bat, and a substitute player sent up for him every time: “He argues that a pitcher is such a poor hitter that his time at bat is a farce, and the game would be helped by eliminating him in favor of a better hitter”
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Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
