TORONTO -- The last time we did this, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was still a boy.
On April 26, 2019, he walked the long tunnel towards his debut press conference wearing the jersey of his father. That day vibrated with anxiety and hope. He represented what the Guerrero name had been and what it might someday be, but we were just meeting him.
Even the concrete and steel from those old videos tell stories. The floor Vladdy walked on was worn, its painted yellow lines all chipping away. The walls were bare and boring, not yet blown out, renovated and repainted for the era we live in now. Guerrero glowed as he walked into the stadium, but by the time he climbed the podium and the clicking cameras calmed, you saw a 20-year-old.
Guerrero sat, his shoulders rounded and shy, with the brim of his cap shadowing his eyes. As each question ended, he’d look directly to the left to his interpreter, Hector Lebron, to hear the question back in Spanish, which he’d quietly answer.
This time, we saw a man take the podium. Six hours before first pitch against the Braves on Monday, Guerrero walked out alongside president and CEO Mark Shapiro, general manager Ross Atkins and Blue Jays the chairman Edward Rogers. Guerrero wore a pink suit, his diamond chain sparkling on a black shirt. The braids he wore in 2019 are long gone now. He sat at the podium this time, in a room that was used for stadium storage six years ago, and smiled. He waved at his family and winked. He shot a mischievous smile to his teammates crowded in the back of the room.
The series-opening 8-4 loss, uninspiring as it was, won’t be what anyone remembers of Monday once Tuesday comes. Because Monday, like that day back in 2019, belonged entirely to Guerrero
Guerrero owned every inch of that room. Besides, this is Guerrero’s team, Guerrero’s stadium and Guerrero’s city now. The boy who walked down that hallway six years ago has grown into one of the best hitters on the planet, one who just signed a 14-year, $500 million extension.
This time, as Shapiro and Atkins spoke, Guerrero turned to them and nodded, his face showing how much their words meant to him. Guerrero speaks excellent English now, something he credits to his daughter as they’ve spoken the language with one another at home as she’s grown up. Looking around the room, Guerrero couldn’t stop smiling.
“I am always going to remember this day,” Guerrero said. “To see my family with me and to see my teammates with me, I feel like this is special. I don’t know how to explain how I feel right now.”
Guerrero called this his “second house.” The love he has for Toronto -- and for Canada, where he was born while his father played for the Expos -- is genuine. It’s something Blue Jays fans have ached to hear from a superstar for nearly 50 years now. Many have worn the “face of the franchise” title over the years, but nearly all have either come from elsewhere or left Toronto later in their careers. Vladdy can be the one who stays.
“I always thought about this. Always. Since I signed here, I always thought I was going to be a Blue Jay forever,” Guerrero said. “That’s what happened today. Thank god we did it. I’m going to be a Blue Jay forever.”
These two moments on the podium capture how much Guerrero and the organization around him has changed in just six years.
Now it’s time to think about the next press conference. No, that won’t be held to celebrate Vladdy’s first postseason win, which fans are still waiting on. It’s about something bigger now.
“We have 41 million fans, Vlad, who are standing shoulder to shoulder with you, rooting for you,” Rogers said. “We have the most energetic and exciting fans in all of MLB, literally from coast to coast. It’s extremely exciting. We are committed to winning. Toronto deserves a first-class team, a team we’re investing in that has the potential to reach and win the World Series and bring the World Series back to Toronto.”
If that day comes, we’ll look back on April 14, 2025, like it was so long ago, too. If only six years have passed since a baby-faced Guerrero sat wide-eyed at that podium, how long will 14 years feel? And how will those 14 years make you feel?
Whether the World Series comes back to Canada or statues someday stand outside this stadium, celebrating moments not yet seen, it’s all up to him. The teenager who signed with the Blue Jays a decade ago, the boy who walked into this stadium six years ago and the man who spoke so proudly on Monday, it’s all up to them.
Keegan Matheson covers the Blue Jays for MLB.com.
