Wilton Guerrero

Wilton Álvaro Guerrero (born October 24, 1974 ) is a Dominican former second baseman in Major League Baseball.

According to MLB official records, Wilton Guerrero was born on October 24, 1974.

However, this date is believed to be incorrect given the fact that his brother Vladimir was born less than four months later on February 9, 1975.

Vladimir's birth date was originally listed as February 9, 1976, but he was revealed to be a year older in 2009.

At this time, Wilton no longer played in the Major Leagues, making it likely that nobody noticed or cared about correcting Wilton's birth date.

He was a utility player and played strong defense at any position he played.

Although he had the ability to hit for average, he had limited power.

A switch hitter, most of his power came while batting right handed.

He hit only 3 of his 11 career home runs while batting left handed despite many more career at bats from that side.

On October 8, 1991, Guerrero was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After several seasons in the minor leagues, punctuated by hitting a combined .346 at Double A and Triple-A in 1995, and .344 in Triple-A in 1996, Guerrero was called up to the Dodgers at 21 years old late in the 1996 seasons.

He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1996–1998), Montreal Expos (1998–2000, 2002), Cincinnati Reds (2001–2002), and Kansas City Royals (2004).

He is the older brother of Vladimir Guerrero and cousin of Cristian Guerrero.

He made his major league debut on September 3, 1996, against the New York Mets.

He recorded his first hit on Opening Day 1997 (April 1) against the Philadelphia Phillies, with a first inning single off Curt Schilling.

His first home run came two weeks later, on April 16, against the Mets' Rick Reed.

However, on June 1, 1997, the Dodgers rookie led off against the St. Louis Cardinals by breaking his bat on a grounder to second.

Rather than try to run it out, Guerrero scrambled to pick up the pieces of his shattered bat, making the umpires suspicious.

Plate umpire Steve Rippley noticed cork in one of the shattered pieces, and showed it to crew chief and third-base umpire Bruce Froemming, who immediately ejected Guerrero.

He was suspended eight games and fined $1,000.

Additionally, his tenure in Los Angeles was plagued by numerous mental mistakes that kept him from becoming a regular starter.

Despite these issues, however, Guerrero proved a solid contact hitter with an ability to hit for average, posting a .291 average in 1997.

However, he did not hit for power, with only 4 home runs, and despite being known as a speedy runner, he only stole 6 bases in 1997 while being caught 5 times.

Guerrero began the 1998 season with the Dodgers, but was traded at the deadline to the Montreal Expos with minor league first baseman Jonny Tucker, outfield prospect Peter Bergeron, and pitching prospect Ted Lilly for outfield prospect Hiram Bocachica, second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, and starting pitcher Carlos Perez.

The deal also united Guerrero with his younger brother Vladimir in Montreal.

Despite having fallen out of favor in Los Angeles, Guerrero again became a starting second baseman in Montreal.

He played in all 52 of the Expos' final games during 1998, and for the season his combined totals were a .284 batting average, 2 home runs, and 27 RBI.

He also stole 8 bases, and was only thrown out twice.

On August 15, 1998, he hit his first home run as an Expo in the 8th inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1999, Guerrero hit .292, again with 2 home runs, and 31 RBI in 132 games.

He stole 7 bases and was caught 6 times.

On October 2, he launched his first grand slam in the second inning of a 13–3 rout of the Phillies.

Since Vladimir had homered earlier in the game, it was the second time the brothers had homered in the same game.

During the 2000 season, Guerrero began seeing more time in the outfield due to the emergence of Jose Vidro.

His batting average fell to .267, but he once again hit 2 home runs, this time driving in 23 runs.

He stole 8 bases and was caught once.

His two home runs, the first May 18 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the second September 18 against the Florida Marlins, came in games where Vladimir had already homered, the third and fourth times the brothers had both homered in the same game.

The four games was a new Major League record at the time, surpassing the three games in which Lloyd and Paul Waner, and Tommie and Hank Aaron had achieved the feat.

In 2001, Jeremy and Jason Giambi tied the Guerreros by homering in their fourth game together, and the record has since been surpassed by Melvin Upton Jr. and Justin Upton who both homered in a 5th game together in 2014.

One inning later, his brother homered, making the brothers the 12th pair of siblings to homer in the same game, and only the sixth to do so as teammates.