All-Star Game MVP: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. becomes youngest ever

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on Tuesday night became the youngest player ever to win the Most Valuable Player award in baseball's All-Star Game, leading the American League to a 5-2 victory over the National League at Coors Field in Denver. Guerrero (22 years and 119 days) went 1-for-3 with two RBIs. He hit a mammoth 468-foot solo home run in the third inning and had an RBI groundout in the fifth as the American League gained its eighth straight All-Star victory. Ken Griffey Jr. was 22 years and 236 days old when he won the MVP award in 1992. Guerrero became the second-youngest player ever to homer in an All-Star Game. Cincinnati's Johnny Bench, who homered in the 1969 game at the age of 21 years and 228 days, is the youngest. "First of all, I want to thank God, I want to thank my family, my teammates," Guerrero said through a translator after the game. "I'm really enjoying being here, and it was all great." The home run by Guerrero was the 200th in All-Star Game history. Babe Ruth hit the first, in 1933 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Guerrero also joined his father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (2006), to become the third father-son duo to homer in an All-Star Game. The others are Bobby Bonds (1973) and Barry Bonds (1998, 2002), and Ken Griffey Sr. (1980) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1992). Of that accomplishment, Guerrero Jr. said: "It means a lot to me, it means the world to me, and I just thank my dad. ... Dad, this is for you." --Field Level Media