Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps today. He became the second member of the Guerrero family to claim victory in the prestigious Home Run Derby. His father, the renowned Vladimir Guerrero Sr., achieved this honor back in 2007 in San Francisco. Amidst the crowd’s enthusiastic support for Junior, an incident occurred that could have posed a significant threat to both Vlad and the spectators.
The incident video was posted on Twitter, capturing Vlad powerfully swinging the bat. However, as soon as the ball soared into the air, a dangerous situation unfolded at T-Mobile Park.
The incident that left MLB fans shell-shocked
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Addison, an MLB fan, shared a video on Twitter with the caption, “Oh my god, man Vlad took some poor kid out.” In this video, it is seen as Vlad attempts to hit the ball, which flies in the air and hits a young girl standing in the ballpark, and she falls to the ground. There is no confirmation if she has been hurt or taken to the hospital.
Oh my god man Vlad took some poor kid out💀 pic.twitter.com/pWkBUwnHz9
— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) July 11, 2023
Though if the reports are to be believed, the girl is fine. There was not much damage done, and the derby proceeded with Vlad taking home the title and etching his name in the history books forever.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s hard-fought battle from the first round to the finals
In the first round, local boy Julio Rodriguez was up against Derby king Pete Alonso, and Julio killed that round by hitting 41 home runs, a single-round record, and he did it in front of his home crowd. In the opening, Randy Arozarena got all the cheers from the crowd as he hit 24 homers to win this round against Adolis Garcia.
Then came Adley Rutschman against Luis Robert Jr., who secured a win by one home run. Next came the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. against Mookie Betts, and it didn’t take Vlad too long as he effortlessly hit 26 home runs to defeat him. Then came the battle of Rodriguez, as he locked horns with crowd favorite Alonso.
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After that, Arozarena defeated Robert and Guerrero Jr. defeated Julio in the semi-finals. Then came the battle of the derby, the big finals, where Guerrero was standing against Arozarena. Vlad sealed the finals with a 25-23 close score.
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s HRDerby win became even more memorable due to a startling incident where a ball hit a young girl. Thankfully, reports indicate that she is fine. Despite the incident, Vlad emerged as the champion, solidifying his place in history and thrilling fans with his remarkable performance.
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