Name	Vladimir Guerrero
Height	6' 3
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	9 February 1976
Place of Birth	Nizao Bani, Dominican Republic
Famous for

Vladimir Alvino Guerrero (born February 9, 1976 in Don Gregorio, Nizao, Dominican Republic), and known in his native Dominican Republic as Miquéas (Spanish for Micah), is a Major League Baseball right fielder who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In 2004, he was voted the American League's MVP Award.

An eight-time All-Star, he is widely recognized as one of the best all-around players in Major League Baseball because he regularly hits for power, has a high average, steals bases, and is credited with one of the strongest outfield arms in baseball. Before a game against the Dodgers at Anaheim Stadium, he threw a home run from home plate to dead centre field for 400 feet with his bare arm. Guerrero is also regarded as the game's premier "bad ball hitter" for his ability to crush balls thrown outside of the strike zone.

His 6"2 frame, strong arm, and unusual ability to hit balls out of the strike zone drew attention at a Dodgers training camp. After injuring his hamstring running out a double, Vladimir allegedly hit ahome run in his next at-bat to avoid having to run the bases. Due to his leg condition, Guerrero only received a 30-day contract. But he grew frustrated with the structure of the Dodgers camp, and left. Guerrero soon caught on with the Montreal Expos, and bat .333 in his first full minor league season. In 1996, while advancing from Single-A to Double-AA, Guerrero bat .360 with 24 home runs and 96 RBI. His September callup was unproductive, although he hit his first major leaguehome run.

Guerrero was signed by the Montreal Expos as an amateur free agent from the Harrisbug Senators in 1993 and eventually made his major league debut on September 19, 1996.

Vladimir was criticized during his first season in 1997 (he'd played 9 games in 1996) for being too aggressive at the plate. Nonetheless, he put up solid numbers for a rookie, batting .302 with 11 HRs and 40 RBI in just 325 at-bats.

Scorn for Guerrero's free-swinging ways changed into admiration in 1998. While he continued to swing at pitches that were clearly balls, he also continued to hit them with authority. In one instance, Guerrero got a base hit off a pitch that bounced before arriving at home plate. Guerrero's superior hand-eye coordination and prodigious strength allowed him to be unusually aggressive at the plate, but still put up high batting averages year after year. Despite his freeswinging style, Guerrero has never struck out 100 times in any season.

Guerrero was a free agent for the first time after the 2003 season, and he signed with the then-Anaheim Angels after being courted by several teams. The owner of the Angels, Arte Moreno, is the first Latino controlling owner of a Major League ballclub, and Guerrero has cited Moreno's Latin heritage as a motivating factor for choosing the Angels over other teams. He currently lives in Anaheim Hills, California.

In 2004 Guerrero returned to form, hitting .337 with 39 home runs and 126 RBI's. Mike Scioscia, the Angels manager, said that Guerrero "really carried us on his back" in the last month of the season, as the Angels overtook first place from the faltering Oakland Athletics who finished the season one game behind in the standings. Guerrero hit six home runs in his last six games of the 2004 regular season, leading the Angels to their first Western Division title since 1986 (The Angels won the 2002 World Series as the American League Wild Card). These late-season heroics led to Guerrero being chosen as the 2004 AL MVP. In the opening best-of-5 round of the playoffs, the Angels were swept by the Boston Red Sox, and Guerrero had an odd batting line: just a .167 average, but six RBI in three games.The Angels won the Western Division again in 2005, with Guerrero batting .317 with 32 home runs and 108 RBIs in 520 at bats. Late in the season, Guerrero became the 12th player to hit his 300thhome run before the age of 30 (along with Hank Aaron, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Eddie Mathews, Harmon Killebrew, Mel Ott, Frank Robinson, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey, Jr., Juan González, and Andruw Jones, who achieved the mark about the same time as Guerrero).

It has been suggested that Guerrero's signing with the Angels has helped lengthen his career, as many of his early career injuries were attributable to playing on the hard artificial surface at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

Guerrero bats without wearing batting gloves, a custom rarely seen in modern baseball. To improve his grip on the bat, he coats his helmet with pine tar and simply rubs his helmet before going into the on-deck circle. As the season progresses, his batting helmet becomes covered in the substance. This is particularly noticeable with the bright red helmet of the Angels. Teammate Orlando Cabrera followed this approach to helmet-based pine-tar hoarding, although Cabrera wearsbatting gloves.

Angels broadcaster Rex Hudler, commenting about Guerrero's personal strike zone, often says "From his nose to his toes, everybody knows, that's how Vladdy goes."

He was named to the Dominican Republic's roster for the inaugural World Baseball Classic, although he eventually withdrew due to the tragic death of his cousins in a car accident right before the tournament. He has provided several job opportunities in his hometown in theDominican Republic through his business ventures: a cement-block factory, a propane distributorship, a supermarket, a livestock and vegetable farm, and a women's clothing store.