Angels smitten by Guerrero's smile, style - MLB

Miller's camping trip

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Three weeks. A handful of games that mean little. One brand new slugger who means everything.

It's 8:30 a.m. inside the Angels clubhouse here at Tempe Diablo Stadium, and no longer is Vladimir Guerrero simply a reputation packed away in some National League outpost. Wearing baseball pants and a T-shirt, Guerrero is sitting in front of his locker, his smile glowing like the rising sun. ...


Vladimir Guerrero is wowing teammates who haven't seen most of his skills before.(AP)

"I've been playing this game a long time, and I had no idea," says closer Troy Percival, a hardened, tough-as-a-cactus, nine-year veteran. "Everybody has a highlight here and there, but this guy is a highlight reel every day that nobody has ever seen."

Little-boy style, Guerrero flips through a pack of baseball cards.

Little-boy style, his new teammates flip through a series of first impressions of the man who stunned the baseball world two months ago by emerging from free-agent seclusion to instantly turn the Angels back into serious World Series contenders.

Percival: "I'm not sure I've ever seen anybody quite like him. He's a rare talent. Just to watch his batting practice, and then going into the game and watching his arm, everything he does, it's pretty special."

It's 8:45 a.m., and despite the prodding and teasing from teammates, Guerrero will not be enticed into the annual NCAA tournament pool that the Angels are forming in the middle of their clubhouse. The teasing bounces off Guerrero like his line drives ricochet off of the wall. ...

First baseman Darin Erstad: "He's very humble. He's very quiet. He goes with the flow. He's going to be good to have around."

Shortstop David Eckstein: "It's going to be real good. One of my buddies who plays with Montreal, Brad Wilkerson, told me he's one of the best teammates you ever want to play with. I just can't wait, and these games we play in the American League, it comes down to big hits, and Vlad has one of the most explosive bats around."

Batting coach Mickey Hatcher: "He goes along with some other pretty good bats in our lineup, too. You've got Eckstein, Ersty, Vlad, Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus, Jose Guillen, Tim Salmon, Bengie Molina -- when he's swinging good, he's dangerous. One through nine, we can manufacture runs. I'm happy because I think our hitting and our pitching lines up with every team in baseball."

Second baseman Adam Kennedy: "You watch him take batting practice, and he's launching balls to left field. You think he's just a pull hitter. Then he gets in games, and it's line drives to right field."

It's 9:02 a.m., and it's difficult to tell whether Guerrero has been wearing the same smile all morning or whether he has changed it once or twice. Now he's looking through the new Angels media guide, laughing and pointing something out in Spanish to infielder Alfredo Almezaga. Despite seven seasons in the bigs, Guerrero, 28, is still unsure of his English. But smiles are universal -- as, in this game, are line drives into the gaps and power throws from the right-field corner. ...

Eckstein: "He plays really hard. For someone with his stature, that's nice to see. The main thing about it is, his ability, things like throwing behind runners. The other day on a base hit, he threw to first behind the runner, and it was a very close play.

"He's always looking for outs. The other day, a guy was going to go first-to-third on a base hit to right, and I went out for the cutoff and you could feel the people in the stands getting up to their feet. You could hear the excitement. I knew I wasn't going to get the throw, I knew he was going to go straight to third with it."

Manager Mike Scioscia: "You know what? Naturally, talent speaks for itself. The thing that jumps out at you from day one is how hard he practices. Every little part of the game, whether it's taking secondary leads off of first base during batting practice, working on getting his jumps in right field."

Hatcher: "You don't have to worry about him. He knows what he's supposed to do, how to get ready. He takes outstanding batting practice. He doesn't just try to hit home runs to left field. If he hits a home run to left field, then he tries to hit it out to right field. He's working on things. And he brings a lot of excitement to the club because of his personality. He's always smiling, always upbeat."

Reliever Brendan Donnelly: "He's a great guy. Obviously, there's a little language barrier. But not enough to not understand what kind of guy he is. His game -- he's one of the elite players in the game. But in the clubhouse, he's easygoing. He's -- what's a better word for funny?"

It's 10:59 a.m., and Guerrero rattles a few line drives around the outfield and over the fence during batting practice. Hatcher goads him, they chuckle, and Guerrero's smile remains like the sweet aroma of cookies long after they've been removed from the oven. ...

Kennedy: "He seems to have fun out there. It's hard not to have fun when you're that good."

Donnelly: "We call him 'The Freak' in the bullpen. I don't think he knows that yet. Everything he does. His hair, his swing ... I don't understand how he hits (with his wiggly stance). He's got the best hand-eye coordination I've ever seen."

Hatcher: "He's always had that hand-eye coordination. He's the type of guy who can hit bad pitches, like Garret Anderson. When I was with the Dodgers, I saw Vlad reach down and hit a ball that bounced off of the wall. It was unbelievable."

Erstad: "He's pretty much see it and hit it. I don't think there's any pitcher in the world who will be able to keep him down."

Scioscia: "When you not only see a guy who has the passion to play the game like he does, but when you see that with this talent, it's something special."

It is 11:18 a.m., batting practice is finished and Guerrero is headed back toward the clubhouse for lunch. Another day, another Cactus League game, more first impressions. First impressions go both ways, too, you know. ...

"I feel really good here," Guerrero says through translator Jose Mota, the club's Spanish radio color analyst. "Very comfortable. Everybody -- players and fans -- have made me feel comfortable."

Not only is he signed and sealed with the Angels through 2008, but best of all, the bad back that caused him to miss several games from May through July last season is better now, he says.

"There is no limit to my game," says Guerrero, who will be thrilled to play on natural grass instead of old artificial turf during his home games this season. "I've been fortunate to play my game to the extreme this spring. I do my job."

That alone is something special. Guerrero's lifetime batting average is .323. He has crushed 34 or more home runs in four of the past five seasons -- missing the mark last year because of the bad back. Meanwhile, in 1999, he compiled a 31-game hitting streak and slammed 42 homers. Only four other players in major-league history have produced 30 or more homers and a hitting streak of at least 30 games in the same season: Rogers Hornsby (1922), Joe DiMaggio (1941), Nomar Garciaparra (1997) and Albert Pujols (2003).

Most of the focus this winter has been on the arms race between Boston and the Yankees. But with Guerrero, Jose Guillen and pitchers Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar added to a core that includes Erstad, Anderson, Salmon, Kennedy, Eckstein, Troy Glaus and Bengie Molina, the Angels very well could return the World Series to the west this fall.

"It's been fun to be able to play with him," Eckstein says. "He brings added excitement to the game. Someone with his ability, you just sit back and watch.

"It's unbelievable."

Not to mention, what might be the most persistent smile in the game.

"I always feel good," Guerrero says. "Even if I go 0-for-4, I really don't let it affect me. I'm happy to be here. I enjoy life."