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The Dominican Dimaggio

Read Juan Vene's feature story about the Expos' 24-year-old Dominican-born star Vladimir Guerrero. In 1998 at the age of 22, Guerrero got 38 home runs, a .302 batting average, and drove in 109 runs. This year he has a batting average above .380, 11 home runs, and 35 runs batted in. Only Mel Ott and Joe Dimaggio achieved better numbers before the age of 23. According to Bobby Valentine, manager of the Mets, "One of Vladimir Guerrero's best strengths is that no defense is good enough to threaten him because he bats equally well anywhere on the field." Defense, Vene points out, is Vladimir's weakness. After making 19 errors last year, more than any other outfielder in the league, Guerrero has improved this year with 3 errors in 40 games.

Sun, 11 Jun 2000 10:38:04 -0700

Submitted by: Dino Manalis