Los Angeles Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero, playing in his first Major League Baseball home-run derby since 2000, beat Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Alex Rios 3-2 in the finals on Monday.
"Yes, I have taken some time off and am glad to be back, more than anything because of the fans; I think the fans deserve to see me," Guerrero said on Monday prior to yesterday's all-star game.
Guerrero joined Garret Anderson (2003) and Wally Joyner (1986) as Angels winners after learning from the Atlanta experience.
"Well, the first time I came in 2000, I swung at basically every pitch, so you learn," he said.
However, Guerrero suffered through a slow start before getting an assist from fellow Dominican and Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, who provided him a new bat.
With Angels third base coach Dino Ebel pitching, Guerrero put on a power display in the second round to bring the fans to their feet and sneak past Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals and Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies to the finals. His 14 combined homers in the first two rounds was one more than Pujols and Holliday and three fewer than Rios.
Rios clobbered 12 homers leading off the second round -- the highest one-round total of the night -- but appeared to stiffen up as he watched the three other semi-finalists perform.
In his third round, he grounded out and popped out weakly on several of his attempts before watching Guerrero drill his 10th swing of the round over the left field fence for the game-winner.
Guerrero, who had 18 family members on hand, was mobbed after the game-winning shot. He averaged 132.4m on his 17 blasts.
The eight-time All-Star, who has 14 homers at the break and is second in the majors with 75 RBI, put his name on a prestigious list of Home Run Derby champions that includes Barry Bonds (1996), Ken Griffey, Jr. (1994, 1998, 1999), Sammy Sosa (2000) and Cal Ripken (1991).
With Bonds sitting on the sidelines watching and defending champion Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies eliminated in the first round, that left the door open for a first-time winner.
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