Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was born to be an enemy of the New York Yankees.
Entering Friday night, when he hit a homer in the first inning in the Bronx, Guerrero Jr., the son of a Hall of Famer, was a .289 hitter against the Bombers with an .864 OPS.
He is a Yankee killer on the field, and he also hates them.
In November, he said he would never sign with the Yankees, not even [when I’m] dead."
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The Toronto Blue Jays have tried to ignite a fire with the Yanks both on and off the field. Guerrero said over the offseason that the Yankees were the "easiest team" to play last season despite the Jays' losing record against them and the Yanks winning the AL East.
Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah has called Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole the biggest cheater in MLB history. The two will start for their respective teams in the Bronx Saturday morning, so get your popcorn ready.
Manoah didn't exactly regret his choice of words Friday. "I said what I said," he said Friday.
Ahead of the first meeting between the AL East foes, the 24-year-old Guerrero doubled down on his hatred for the Yanks, but it seems to go far beyond the field.
"It’s a personal thing. It goes back with my family," Guerrero said through an interpreter Friday. "That’s my decision, and I will never change that."
The comments were similar to those of Ken Griffey Jr., who once said he, too, would never play for the Yankees, adding he would retire if they were the only team to offer him a contract.
"I came up to visit my dad, and it was just me and him. I got to the ballpark early, and I'm sitting in the dugout, and the security guard comes over and says, '[Then-Yankees owner George Steinbrenner] doesn't want anyone in the dugout,'" Griffey Jr. said, recalling when his father, Ken. Sr., was with the Yankees.
"My dad was like, 'What? He's my son.' So he goes, 'All right, hey go in my locker. But before you go, look at third base.' It's Graig Nettles' son taking ground balls at third base.
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"And, at that time, my dad was 38 years old. He's like, 'I ain't fighting this no more. I got somebody a little younger. And a little bit better.'
"There's certain things a dad drills into you as a kid that just sticks with you. And [to beat the Yankees] was one of them."
Guerrero Jr. admitted he gets a bit more hyped playing in the Bronx.
"Since you’re a little kid, you dream to play at Yankee Stadium," Guerrero said. "It’s always a stadium where you want to come, you want to perform, you want to hit. That’s my mentality all the time when I come here."
Guerrero Jr. is off to a hot start, hitting .338 in the first 19 games.
