Vladimir Guerrero Choosing To Wear An Angels Cap Instead Of An Expos Cap Makes Me Sad

I’m not gonna lie, I was really bummed out when I saw that the newly inducted Vladimir Guerrero chose to wear an Angels cap into the Hall of Fame over an Expos cap. It’s his choice. He can do whatever he wants. I get it. But I just know how much it would’ve meant to the people of Montreal who, even after 14 years, still miss their baseball team and continue to follow the journeys of the players who once called Montreal home.

I understand that there’s big time appeal to being able to say that you’re the first player in Angels history to be elected to the Hall of Fame, but what about being able to say that you were the last Expo? You’re not an Angel, Vladdy. You’re an Expo. Guerrero was signed by Montreal as an amateur free agent back in 1993 when he was just 18 years old. He played eight years and over a thousand games for the now extinct franchise, more years and more games than he played in Anaheim.

Over parts of eight seasons in Montreal, Guerrero batted .323 with a .978 OPS, 226 doubles, 234 home runs, 123 stolen bases, 702 RBI, and accumulated a WAR of 34.6, which is an average of a 4.9 WAR over seven seasons from his rookie year of 1997 through his final year with the Expos in 2003. Over six seasons with the Angels, Guerrero batted .319 with a .927 OPS, 194 doubles, 173 home runs, 52 stolen bases, 616 RBI, and accumulated a WAR of 22.8, which is an average of a 3.8 WAR. Guerrero was more than one full win better, on average, in Montreal than he was in Anaheim.

Although Guerrero was great for both teams — no shit; he’s in the Hall of Fame — he was better with the Expos than he was with the Angels across the board. Sure, he won an MVP award in 2004 with the Angels and didn’t get a taste of the postseason until he got to Anaheim, but he’s still always going to be remembered as an Expo. When I think of Vladimir Guerrero, I think of no batting gloves, a pine tar-covered bat the size of a telephone pole, a rocket arm, hitting baseballs fourteen inches outside of the strike zone, and the Montreal Expos, not the Angels. And when you look at the numbers, it’s not hard to see why.

Once Vlad goes in, the fans of Montreal will have to wait until Tom Brady gets the call to the Hall before they can see another former Expo get inducted. Disappointingly, there’s a chance Brady might not be representing the Expos during enshrinement, either. Sad.