LOS ANGELES — As media swirled about the overcrowded room, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s diamond-encrusted chain glistened in the clubhouse light.
The pendant in question, a custom rendering of his personal VG27 logo, dangled radiantly from a hook in his extra locker. Guerrero himself had not yet entered the room, but his presence — over this night, this World Series and this franchise — was omnipresent. And the jeweled-out chain, likely worth more than most people’s cars, provided a not-so-subtle reminder that Vlad Jr. has become, or has always been, more than a player.
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His performance in Toronto’s 6-2 victory in World Series Game 4 — 2-for-4 with a walk and the game-defining home run — reaffirmed as much. Guerrero is an aircraft carrier, an institution, as synonymous with this era of Toronto Blue Jays baseball as the team’s logo. No player in this World Series — and none, besides Juan Soto, in this sport — has been guaranteed more money to play baseball than Guerrero. And this October, he has earned every last Canadian dollar.
“He’s playing for legacy,” closer Jeff Hoffman told Yahoo Sports. “He’s playing for how they’re going to talk about him when he’s done playing.”
Guerrero, however, is far from done.
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And on Tuesday, the 26-year-old added to his pedigree, delivering the most meaningful swing of his already unforgettable postseason. With Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani settling into his outing and the Jays already down one in the top of the third, Guerrero unleashed on a hanging sweeper for a go-ahead, series-altering smash.
As the pill shot through the pastel California sky, Guerrero strutted down the first baseline, admiring his handiwork as he went. And when the ball crested over the left-field seats, the man of the moment emphatically dismounted his lumber before turning to his dugout and hollering “¡Vamo’!”
“Let’s go.”
And so, the Blue Jays went.
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Starter Shane Bieber worked 5 1/3 effective frames of one-run ball. He turned things over to Toronto’s exhausted bullpen. That unit kept Los Angeles’ dangerous offense at bay until the offense exploded to life with an exhale-inducing four-spot in the seventh inning. The Dodgers tacked on a run in the ninth, but things concluded comfortably enough for the visitors. With that, the Blue Jays evened this captivating Fall Classic at two games apiece, ensuring that the 2025 World Series will indeed return to Canada for a Game 6 on Friday.
When it does, Guerrero will remain at its center. His October for the ages has made it so.
Guerrero’s tank off Ohtani was his first of this series, but his seventh of these playoffs. The slugging first baseman now holds both Toronto’s single season and career postseason home run records. He is currently hitting .419/.500/.806 in these playoffs. The Dodgers intentionally walked him with a base open in the seventh. And less than 16 hours after suffering one of postseason history’s most grueling losses, Guerrero’s and his ballclub reoriented the narrative.
Most of Guerrero’s teammates did not sleep well after Monday’s marathon Game 3. They were too riled up from the madness. Their body clocks being on Eastern time did not help. Jays infielder Ernie Clement said he conked out around 5 a.m. local.
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But Guerrero, as he relayed to reporters after Game 4, had no such issues.
“To be honest, I slept like a baby,” he said through team interpreter Hector Lebron. “You know, it was a long game. Yeah, it hurts when you lose a game like that, but I was so tired that I just went to sleep.”
Such is life when you’re numb to the weight of it all. Bearing his Hall of Fame father’s name, Guerrero exited the womb with expectations. He not only understands that burden but also welcomes it, proclaiming after his club’s ALCS Game 6 victory that he was “born for this.”
“I honestly don’t know how he does it,” Clement told Yahoo Sports. “I can’t imagine the pressure that comes with that. It takes a lot to carry that name and that pressure, making all that money, and he’s still doing it. He’s a special human being.”
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Despite the half-billion-dollar price tag that was attached to his life in April, Guerrero this season has only solidified his reputation as a good teammate and a hard worker. It sounds cliché, but it’s crucial. When the richest, most famous player on any team operates with interpersonal humility and an unrelenting work ethic, it helps foster a culture built around those qualities. Guerrero perfectly epitomizes that dynamic, refusing to let the all of it all impact him.
“From my perspective, I don’t see all that,” Bo Bichette, who has been teammates with Guerrero since their minor league days, told Yahoo Sports. “I just see one of my best friends, who I’ve learned a ton from. I see a kid who has matured greatly into being able to handle these moments, who just loves playing ball.”
“It doesn’t even register,” Max Scherzer noted of the expectations around Guerrero. “You’re just one of us in here, just one of the 26 in here to have a good time.”
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The biggest difference?
“He’s got some nice things.”
But the indulgences — including the thousands of dollars dangling in his locker — are well-deserved. Guerrero has lived up to the promise of both his name and his contract. This postseason has elevated that greatness, spreading it to the masses. Many solid players have caught fire for an October: David Freese, Steve Pearce, Randy Arozarena. This is not that, not a hot stretch or a nice month. Guerrero at present is simply one of the top hitters on earth at his absolute best. Two more wins will make him sports-immortal — in the hearts of a nation and the eyes of a sport.
Yet no matter what happens, we are witnessing something special: the greatest hitter in the history of a franchise at his rip-roaring peak on the game’s biggest stage. One day, Guerrero will have a road named after him, a statue outside Rogers Centre and a bronze plaque in upstate New York. In the way that Gwynn is The Padre, Ripken is The Oriole and Jeter is The Yankee, Vlad will be The Blue Jay.
If he isn’t already.