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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had the kind of playoff performance last season for the Blue Jays that established him as a big moment producer.
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But eight post-season homers in 18 games on top of a .397 batting average comes with plenty of unwanted attention and it turned out Guerrero was equally good at handling that.
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With the Jays having lost Game 5 of the ALCS in Seattle and Guerrero and teammate Andres Gimenez on the way to the team bus one of the Seattle Mariners’ wives got Guerrero’s attention.
“I still remember the moment during the Seattle series,” Guerrero began. “As I was walking past a group of family members, one of the women yelled right next to me, loud and proud: ‘Da Blue Jays lose!’”
It was a clear reference to Guerrero’s own mocking of the Yankees’ broadcaster John Sterling’s patented call after the Jays took care of New York in the Division Series with his “Da Blue Jays win” call that both he and countryman David Ortiz had so much fun with on the TNT broadcast after Toronto’s win.
It wasn’t as much fun being on the receiving end in Seattle.
“I had my headphones on, pretending to listen to music, I wasn’t actually playing anything, just trying to stay in my own head,” Guerrero recalls. “She said it so boldly, right there beside me, ‘Da Blue Jays lose’ and the group erupted in cheers behind her. I even knew exactly who she was and whose wife she was.”
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So how did Guerrero respond?
“I was walking with Gimenez,” Guerrero said. “I leaned over and told him quietly, “They don’t know they’re heading into the Valley of Death.”
The Blue Jays, of course, would go on to win the ALCS in seven games and advance to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
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