Mario Miguel Guerrero Abud (September 28, 1949 – July 2, 2023) was a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player who was a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for four teams in an eight-year career from 1973 to 1980.

Career

Guerrero signed with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

as an amateur free agent in 1968. After four plus seasons in their farm system, he was sent to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

on June 30, 1972, as the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

in the deal that brought future

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (baseball), National League (NL). The award was introduced in 1956 by Commissioner of Baseball ( ...

winner

Sparky Lyle Albert Walter "Sparky" Lyle (born July 22, 1944) is an American professional baseball pitcher who spent sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1967 through 1982. He was a relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Texa ...

to the Yankees in exchange for

Danny Cater Danny Anderson Cater (born February 25, 1940) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 18, on June 8, 1958. Cater played ...

. Guerrero made the Red Sox out of

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

1973 and appeared in 66 games as a backup to starting shortstop Luis Aparacio and second baseman Doug Griffin. The Red Sox released Aparacio during spring training in March 1974, clearing the way for Guerrero to become the team's starting shortstop. He wound up sharing the position with rookie Rick Burleson, however, with Burleson ultimately totaling more games and plate appearances than Guerrero while dividing his time between short, second base and third. In early April 1975, the Red Sox traded Guerrero to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

for a player to be named, with

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Jim Willoughby eventually going to the Red Sox, on July 4. Guerrero split 1975 between the Cardinals and their triple A affiliate, the

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tulsa ...

, batting .239 in 64 games at the major league level. He was assigned to Tulsa in 1976 when he was traded to the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

for two minor leaguers. Guerrero signed as a free agent with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

after the 1977 season, only to be sent to

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

on April 7, 1978, to complete a trade in which the Athletics also acquired

Gary Thomasson Gary Leah Thomasson (born July 29, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1972 and 1980, most prominently as a member of the San Francisco Gi ...

, Gary Alexander,

Dave Heaverlo David Wallace Heaverlo ( ;

, John Henry Johnson, Phil Huffman, Alan Wirth and $300,000 for

Vida Blue Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (; July 28, 1949 – May 6, 2023) was an American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1986, most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty ...

just over three weeks earlier on March 15. He played three seasons in Oakland before his contract was purchased by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

. Guerrero retired following his release from the Mariners in spring training 1981. Although Guerrero played in 697

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

over 8 seasons and collected over 500 career

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, he finished with exactly 0 career wins above replacement (WAR). This suggests that, statistically, his overall contributions to his teams were equivalent to those of a readily available

replacement-level player This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

, typically someone from the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

, rather than elevating the team's performance above that baseline.

Personal life and death

His brother Epy Guerrero was a coach for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. While working as a ''buscón'' (headhunter) in the Dominican Republic, Guerrero sued

Raúl Mondesí Raúl Ramón Mondesí Avelino (born March 12, 1971) is a Dominican former politician and baseball player. Mondesí played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and made his MLB debut with them in ...

for 1% of his salary. He ended up winning a $640,000 judgment. Mario Guerrero died on July 2, 2023, at the age of 73.

References

External links

Mario Guerrero
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Guerrero, Mario 1949 births 2023 deaths Boston Red Sox players California Angels players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Kinston Eagles players Dominican Republic people of African descent Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 20th-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball shortstops Manchester Yankees players Oakland Athletics players St. Louis Cardinals players Syracuse Chiefs players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Winter Haven Super Sox players