Age-gate strikes again: Vlad Guerrero a year older
by Adam J. Morris on Mar 6, 2009 7:38 PM CST
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PrintTim Brown reports that Vlad Guerrero is actually 34, not 33 as we all thought:
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero said Friday he is a year older than his listed birth date, joining hundreds of players from the Dominican Republic who faked their ages when signing their first contracts with major-league teams.
Guerrero’s admission – initially unintentional – came in response to a question about his offseason knee surgery. Manager Mike Scioscia had said the surgery could have the effect of “maybe turning back the clock a couple years” for Guerrero.
Relayed that quote, the affable Guerrero smiled and responded through a translator, “I feel good. I can’t say [like] 25, because, you know, I’m 34. But I feel a lot better. That’s where I’m at right now.”
The Angels’ media guide, among other baseball references, list Guerrero’s birth date as Feb. 9, 1976, which would make him 33.
Guerrero had left the ballpark by the time the inconsistency was discovered. Reached by an Angels executive, Guerrero admitted he was born on the same date in 1975, making him 34. The club said it was aware of Guerrero’s actual birth date and after Friday’s development a team official said this year’s media guide would reflect the correct date.
There's been this assumption in the last few years that the issue of monkeying with birth dates is a thing of the past, and since Age-gate hit a few years back, one can generally rely that Latin American players are really as old as they claim to be.
But with Miguel Tejada aging two years last year, Vlad turning out to be a year older than expected, and the whole Smiley Gonzalez fiasco, it seems like the issue of year of birth uncertainty is still alive and well.
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Funnah!
Very funnah.
"...my balls are really like a veiny flesh color" blueballlefty on Jun 4, 2008 7:44 PM EDT
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008
For the sake of our pitchers, hopefully old enough to retire this year.
"You can have such a massive impact on a game even when you're not getting ground balls hit at you." - Michael Young
by LSJ on Mar 6, 2009 7:42 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
we all knew he was older than he claimed to be
and i’m sure he’s more than just 1 year older.
Omar Vizquel: your starting shortstop for the 2009 AL all-star team.
so he mistakenly blurted out a fake age
that was different from his other fake age?
by Smoakin in the Boys Room on Mar 7, 2009 1:32 AM CST up reply actions
I'd put Vlad at a decent 37 minimum
But it triggers an Andruw question. Granted, the Dutch Islands are much better with recordkeeping that the detached republics (DR, Antigua, St. Lucia, etc) but did he really crack the majors at 20 or so? Traveling in the Caribbean, lots of babyface folks whose age would be hard to guess.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
by Ed Coffin on Mar 6, 2009 7:47 PM CST reply actions
certainly a viable possibility with Jones
Sure would make a lot more sense if his precipitous drop in production actually started when he was mid thirties instead of late twenties.
Doctor please. Some more of these.
great minds...
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
read somewhere that this would make sense
and that he is 5+ years older than he is now lol
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
Turns out Julio Franco was actually born in 1858, not 1958
When will those Dominican players learn?
by Ezzra on Mar 6, 2009 8:14 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
for real?
wow. imagine how good he would have been during his prime years. in 1885
Omar Vizquel: your starting shortstop for the 2009 AL all-star team.
Yeah
Al Spalding would have been in REAL trouble!!
by Michael Cave on Mar 6, 2009 11:00 PM CST up reply actions
People keep “joking” about Pujols, but he’s either another Greg Oden case or his lying about his age had nothing to do with getting a major league baseball contract…most people forget that he actually graduated from high school in Independence, Missouri and was drafted out of junior college.
But
His family didn’t move to the US until he was “16”.
LoneStarBall....You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
by LSBUser on Mar 7, 2009 9:39 AM CST up reply actions
Since the Angels...
said that they knew his real age, but used the fake age in the media guides and such, I wonder if a team that traded for Vlad would have cause to invalidate the trade (assuming the real age came out afterword)?
"I know you're a bit dense but no, it doesn't. Obviously lying isn't a problem for me."
I thought that was odd, too.
They’ve been in on it? When did they know? Or are they saying, in effect, “he looked 18”?
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
I thought that too.
Why would they know about it and not bring it forward, unless they intended to wrongfully use it to their benefit.
what do they have to gain by bringing it forward
brings up age gate, brings up critcisims of the team,e tc
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
I doubt they really knew his age
They just don’t want to deal with their star player lying about his age to them.
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw
Is there any reason to believe that Neffy is faking us?
I have fulfilled all my prophecies; all my predictions are up to date.
My train is right on schedule.
neftali looks
closer to 16 than 24. i’ve seen stranger things before though
by dustinvandeman on Mar 6, 2009 10:50 PM CST up reply actions
u dont say much now that u rec so much
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
WBC
You have to respect Japan’s love for the game. This atmosphere is on MLB TV looks awesome. By the way, Darvish looked A LOT better the other day than Ive ever seen Dice-K look (mechanics, smoothness, stuff).
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