Vlad Jr.'s 1st Big A homer means a lot to slugger

ANAHEIM -- First there was the crack of the bat, followed by the thump off the left-field foul pole, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. created noises that made him feel like a little kid again.

Guerrero is only 23, so in some sense, he still is a kid. But his home run Thursday against the Angels was a time for childhood memories, as he played on a field he knows so well from his youth. It was also one of three Toronto homers on the night, as the Blue Jays finished off a 6-3 victory in the opener of a four-game series.

Guerrero spent many days at Angel Stadium while growing up, watching his Hall of Fame father operate as one of the most feared sluggers in the game during his time with the Halos. The younger Guerrero is making his third visit to Anaheim since becoming a Major Leaguer, which he discussed prior to Thursday's game.

“I remember running around outside, being in the clubhouse and my dad and I used to be in the [batting] cage,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “I couldn’t shag [fly balls during batting practice] because back then, they had a rule that if you weren’t 15 years old, you couldn’t be shagging. But basically, I was with my dad all the time.”

And while Guerrero had nothing but fond memories of his many days in Southern California, it’s not like dad’s former team had been a gracious host in recent years.

In six previous games at Angel Stadium, Guerrero had only two singles in 21 at-bats. He had two more empty at-bats added to the ledger to open Thursday’s game, flying out to left field in the first and striking out looking against Angels right-hander Shohei Ohtani in the third.

But in the sixth, Guerrero swung at a 76 mph curveball left over the plate by Ohtani and banged it off the pole in left.

“I think it means something to anybody who faces Ohtani, [because] he is one of the best players in baseball,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “Any time you do something like that it’s fun and it has to mean something.”

All told, Vlad Sr. and Vlad Jr. now have 90 combined home runs at Angel Stadium -- and something to chat about the next time they talk. Although the younger Guerrero says those conversations are more about life.

“That [hitting] conversation is more with my uncle,” Guerrero said. “But yeah, me and my dad talk about personal things with the family.”

After an up-and-down opening two months of the season, Guerrero is starting to look like a dominant force again. Following an 0-for-14 stretch over a four-game drought starting last week, he went 2-for-4 with a home run Tuesday at St. Louis. That ended a 15-game drought without a homer and marked his 10th multi-hit game of the season. He now has home runs in consecutive games for the first time this year.

George Springer set the tone for the Blue Jays on Thursday, hitting a leadoff home run on Ohtani’s eighth pitch of the game. It was the 48th leadoff homer of Springer’s career, tying him for fourth most in AL/NL history with Ian Kinsler.

With home runs from Springer, Guerrero and Danny Jansen, the Blue Jays are starting to feel complete again. Guerrero’s homer was especially uplifting because he seems to have a better grasp of the strike zone of late.

“I just think you’re starting to see him slow down,” Springer said of Guerrero. “There’s a lot of at-bats where I know he feels like he gave them away. But that’s the game and a part of learning how guys are attacking you. ... He’s such an incredibly talented hitter and so smart. I don’t worry about him whatsoever.”

Guerrero’s long ball put a spring in his step, for specific reasons.

At last year’s All-Star Game, Guerrero wanted to take a picture with Ohtani, his American League teammate. Facing a language barrier, Guerrero held up two hands to mimic taking a picture. Ohtani understood and posed for the photo as the two superstars shared a moment.

To grasp how much Thursday’s home run meant to Guerrero, all anybody had to do was to listen to the route that photo from last summer traveled. It is a photo with an Angels star after growing up as the son of another of the team’s legends.

“It’s big [now], on one of the walls in my house,” Guerrero said.