Vladimir Guerrero’s whirlwind Hall of Fame celebration
By César Augusto Márquez
Wednesday, Jan. 24 — Long Island, New York
The clock said 5:40 p.m. — five minutes to go before a much-anticipated telephone call from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was scheduled to arrive. Despite assurances the call would come, there was a tension in the air as Vladimir Guerrero waited — a sensation he rarely experienced as a player.
As opposed to last year, when he was in his hometown of Don Gregorio in the Dominican Republic on the day the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced its voting results, Vlad decided that for his second time on the ballot, he would wait at his New York home on Long Island.
To his right sat Virgilio Rojo, a trusted friend and his PR representative. To his left sat his mother, Altagracia Alvino, who worked as a cook and a maid in Colombia and Venezuela to support her family when Vlad was a child. An intimate circle of family and friends filled out the rest of the room.
Vlad wore a red shirt with white stripes, the colors of the Angels, his second major league team and a hint as to which cap he would like his bronze plaque to bear. Off the field, Vlad is mostly quiet and reserved, so, unsurprisingly, he looked straight ahead with his fingers crossed.
Then the phone rang, blasting a ringtone more in line with Vlad’s on-the-field persona — a high-energy merengue with blaring horns loud enough to wake up the dead.
“Hello, may I speak with Vlad Guerrero?” said Jack O’Connell, secretary-treasurer of the BBWAA. “The last time we talked, I was letting you know that you won the American League Most Valuable Player Award. Now I’m letting you know that the writers have elected you to the Hall of Fame. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Vlad answered simply, remarkably keeping his composure while the rest of the room looked on in stunned silence.
And that’s how Vlad learned that he had entered Cooperstown, completing a journey that took him from poverty to the pinnacle of his sport as the third Dominican and 14th Latino to earn induction.
Vlad didn’t have to say much. His smile said it all. Because back home in Don Gregorio, the bands were playing, and the party had already started.
The congratulations and tributes started pouring in immediately, including those from Juan Marichal and Pedro Martínez, his two countrymen who preceded him into Cooperstown; and Felipe Aloú, the legendary trailblazer who was the second Dominican to play in the major leagues and later managed Vlad at Montreal with the Expos.
Puerto Rico’s Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez, who was inducted into Cooperstown last year, posted his own response to the news on Instagram and Twitter. “Congratulations, my brother @VladGuerrero27 #HOF2018 Proud Latino,” he said in Spanish.
Even the president of the Dominican Republic, Danilo Medina Sánchez, celebrated Vlad’s achievement, tweeting in Spanish, “All the Dominicans are full of pride to see you raise our flag on the highest summit.”
Thursday, Jan. 25 — St. Regis Hotel, N.Y.
Twenty hours or so later, Vlad still couldn’t believe it.
“It’s still too early. I don’t believe that I’m in the Hall of Fame,” he said in Spanish after the press conference that introduced him, Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman as the newest members of the Hall.
During the press conference, Vlad talked about his hometown, his early years, his older brother Wilton — who played eight seasons in the majors — and first mentors, including Aloú.
“I’m grateful to Felipe Rojas Aloú, my first manager in the major leagues with Montreal, for teaching me, having patience with me and putting me in the lineup every day,” Vlad said. “My first years were hard. I couldn’t miss the 6 a.m. bus to go to the ballpark because I didn’t know when the next one would leave, and I didn’t speak enough English to be able to ask.
“I never thought that I would be elected after two years,” Vlad added. “I’m very happy and more so is my family. These last few hours have been very hectic.”
Quietly taking in the scene but beaming with pride was Vlad’s mom. Those who covered his career, from Montreal to Anaheim to Texas to Baltimore, know that Altagracia frequently stayed with Vlad, not only to care for him but also to cook for his teammates and Latinos on the other teams.
When Venezuela’s Melvin Mora, who played 13 seasons in the majors, published a letter last week to Vlad on the website Prodavinci.com, half of it was a tribute to Altagracia.
“This woman, the mother of Vladimir and Wilton, was the one who made sure that all the Latinos who played with and against her sons never went hungry or lacked for things on their road trips,” Mora wrote in Spanish. “She took care of us to ensure that we succeeded.
“Look, even the gringos ate her food,” Mora added.
Altagracia joked that she will not cook for Vlad’s fellow Hall of Famers during induction weekend in Cooperstown. If you’re curious about Vlad’s appetite, he apparently devours everything his mom serves.
“Vladimir eats everything. There I never have a problem,” she said in Spanish in an interview with La Vida Baseball. “He loves meat. He’s a carnivore. But every so often, he’ll ask me to mix it up. He also loves vegetables. He’ll say, ‘Mom, make me some beets.’ He likes to eat.”
But Altagracia is not officially retired, yet. She confessed that she will be back on the road this season cooking for Vlad’s oldest child — Vlad Jr., the Toronto Blue Jays’ top-rated prospect.
The election called for a celebration — dinner in Manhattan and a party that included Angels owner Arturo “Arte” Moreno and his wife, Carole. Even in New York City, word gets around quickly. Aaron Judge, the AL Rookie of the Year and the Yankees’ stellar right fielder, suddenly appeared to pay his respects. Judge was clearly raised with manners; he took off his cap to greet Vlad’s mom.
“I heard that he was a couple of blocks down,” Judge said. “I had to come down to meet him and congratulate him. It’s a special moment.
“It’s pretty incredible. A Hall of Famer. I get a chance to meet him. Incredible. Incredible,” Judge added. “One of the best to play the game. He played the game the right way. A complete player.”
Sunday, Jan. 28 — Dominican Republic
How important is baseball to the Dominican Republic? When the private plane carrying Guerrero and his party landed at Las Américas International Airport shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday, pandemonium broke out. Crowds cheered, horns blew and sirens wailed as Vlad made his way to the vehicle that would carry him in a procession to the first celebration of the day.
Vlad was honored first in Santo Domingo — the country’s capital city — and later in Don Gregorio, about one hour west by car. Vlad stood in a truck, waving a Dominican flag. Hundreds of people waited patiently on the roadside or on overpasses to cheer him.
“There are no words to describe this moment, thanks to my country for showing me so much love,” Vlad tweeted in Spanish.
The ministers of tourism and sports led the ceremony in Santo Domingo, but as it happens frequently in the Caribbean, the event was transformed into a musical jam session as tributes turned into improvised songs. Merengue was the rhythm of the day and Vlad showed that he can kept a beat almost as well as he can swing a bat.
“It’s not Nizao, but Don Gregorio, it’s not Nizao, but Don Gregorio. I’m Dominican,” Vlad sang to a background chorus of “Vladimir, Vladimir.”
Thousands of fans attended the event in Santo Domingo. But when the procession arrived in Don Gregorio in the early evening, it seemed that the whole town was there waiting for him.
“My town,” Vlad proudly posted on Twitter.
It certainly had been a whirlwind week. But from the looks of it Sunday night, the party was not ending any time soon. The Dominican Republic seemed determined to give Vladimir Guerrero a Hall of Fame celebration.
Featured Image: Vladimir Guerrero Instagram