It wasn’t meant to be for Pete Alonso to win a third Home Run Derby title and tie Ken Griffey Jr. in the house that Griffey built. And while Julio Rodríguez eliminated Alonso with that SoDo Mojo, it was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who got revenge for Rodríguez breaking his single-round record by winning the final. So, let’s do Vladito’s home run chain.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his first home run off Nick Vincent, 5/14/19
Nick Vincent gave up his first home run to Jason Kubel, 7/3/12
Jason Kubel hit his first home run off Jon Garland, 9/21/04
Jon Garland gave up his first home run to Jermaine Dye, 7/4/00
Jermaine Dye hit his first home run off Marcus Moore, 5/17/96
Marcus Moore gave up his first home run to David Justice, 7/26/93
David Justice hit his first home run off Mike Scott, 9/19/89
Mike Scott connects to the Domingo Germán (derogatory) home run chain, which in turn brings us back to the Francisco Álvarez home run chain. Now we understand the bad Mets vibes that much better.
And if you’re wondering, Iván Nova did give up home runs to both Vladimirs Guerrero, getting tagged twice by Senior in 2011 — the fifth-to-last and second-to-last of the Hall of Famer’s career — and for Junior’s third, in Chicago, three days after he took both Vincent and Reyes Moronta deep in San Francisco.
We Can Pod It Out 152: All Together Now