Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is one of the most fearsome baseball players on home plate. But on Tuesday, a Tampa Bay Rays outfielder managed to put him on the grass with a throw worthy of a water polo.
The Florida team suffered their worst loss in team history against the Toronto Blue Jays, conceding 27 goals in a 20-1 loss.
Also read: Blue Jays: No offensive festival this time
Also read: Blue Jays score 20 points against top team
In the eighth inning, the Rays were down 10-1 when manager Kevin Cash, out of gunners, decided to send outfielder Luke Raley to the mound.
The arrival of the son of Montreal Expos’ former glory seemed to herald disaster. But against all odds, Guerrero Jr. hurtled through the air at a curveball of 50 miles per hour.
A good player and, above all, aware that his retreat on catches would not affect the course of the game, the Jays slugger digested this bitter failure with self-mockery.
Additionally, Guerrero Jr. was only able to retaliate a set later by catapulting an offer from Raley and scoring a grand slam.
Still, the Rays member took great pride in pranking one of Major League Baseball’s best batsmen.
“I smiled because I knocked out Vlad, honestly,” Raley said after the duel, according to MLB.com. I never thought I would achieve that. At least I have a strikeout on my stat list and we can move on.”
Guerrero Jr. immortalized this unique moment in Raley’s career by handing him the ball after the game, which he used to knock him out in a box. The Montreal native signed the ball and simply wrote, “You got me.”
After Luke pitched Raley Tuesday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed the strike-out ball for Raley and wrote on the ball:
“You got me.”
Love it. pic.twitter.com/Px65c75b2T
—Tricia Whitaker (@TriciaWhitaker) May 25, 2023