They say you should never meet your heroes, but that’s exactly what Blue Jays infielder Santiago Espinal did this weekend. Before Saturday’s game in Dunedin, Toronto’s temporary home amid the COVID pandemic, the 26-year-old was summoned by teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who introduced him to Angels slugger Albert Pujols, baseball’s active leader in hits (3,239), home runs (663) and RBI (2,104). Guerrero’s father, Hall-of-Fame outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, spent six of his 16 MLB seasons with the Angels (2004-09), though he and Pujols were never teammates.
Espinal was visibly star-struck upon meeting his fellow countryman (both hail from the Dominican Republic), beaming in the presence of an all-time great. If Espinal was nervous sharing the field with his idol, he sure didn’t show it, matching a career-high with three hits in the Jays’ 15-1 rout of Los Angeles.
Great as Pujols was early in his career, the past few years have been a struggle for the fading vet, who has managed just three hits in 20 at-bats this season (.150 AVG) while splitting first-base reps with Jared Walsh. Espinal, who was only up for the weekend as a replacement for Lourdes Gurriel (he had been experiencing side effects from the COVID vaccine), has already been optioned back to Triple-A, but at least he got to share a few words with a living legend while he was in town.
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