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Mario Guerrero started his professional career when he signed with the Yankees in 1968. The right-handed hitting infielder spent four seasons in the New York farm system, playing his way to Triple-A. In March 1972, the the Red Sox made one of the worst deals in their history when the traded reliever Sparky Lyle in exchange for Danny Cater and a player to be named later. On June 30th that player was finally named: it was Mario Guerrero. A light-hitting middle infielder, Guerrero was entrusted with the Opening Day start for the Red Sox at shortstop in 1973. He finished the year with a .233 BA, and he impressed the team so much with his fielding and quickness that he was considered a possible successor to Luis Aparicio. The next year, he beat out rookie Rick Burleson for the role of starting shortstop to start the 1974 season. Eventually, Burleson worked his way to the majors and earned a large share of the playing time, at Guerrero’s expense. Going into the 1975 season, the Red Sox traded Guerrero to the Cardinals where he spent a season-plus bouncing on and off the St. Louis roster before being traded again, this time to the Angels for a pair of players who never reached the majors. He signed with the Giants over the 1977-78 offseason. But before he could play a game, they moved him to the A’s in the trade that sent Vida Blue to San Francisco. He had arguably the best year of his career in 1978, hitting .275 for Oakland. His MLB career came to a close when he was released by the Mariners going into the 1981 season. He played in parts of eight big league seasons, with a career batting average of .257 Mario Guerreo died on July 2, 2023 at the age of 73 in his home town of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic .... |
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