"I don't think he ever knew what teams we were playing" - Ex-Marlins President discloses Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s father's surprising slugging approach

In the realm of analytics-driven baseball, former Marlins president David Samson can recall the time when Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., couldn't name which team he was facing, let alone the pitcher.

According to Samson, Guerrero couldn’t even name 15 pitchers he had faced in his career, let alone pore over detailed stats or scouting reports.

"One of my favorite lines in my career was from Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Vladimir Jr.'s father, who people may not know is a Hall of Famer—one of the greatest hitters I got to see in 18 years," Samson said on his podcast (43:20 onwards). "Here’s what he said, and it wasn’t because he didn’t have perfect command of the English language. This is how he played baseball: 'David, I see the ball, and I hit the ball. That’s it.'

"He didn’t know—he couldn’t name, if you asked him today—15 pitchers he faced. He would not come up with 15 pitchers he faced."

However, even during that generation, there were some who kept notes of every at-bat, like Carlos Delgado.

"Carlos Delgado was the opposite," Samson added. "I don’t know why this is, but Delgado kept a notebook of every at-bat of his entire career: every pitcher, every pitch sequence. He had it and would review it. Vladimir Guerrero? He was the opposite. I don’t think he ever knew what teams we were playing, forget the pitcher."

David Samson point of emphasis behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s father take

The point David Samson was trying to make is that baseball has become overdependent on analytics and is slowly taking away the natural elements of the game.

"And now we give so much information to hitters," Samson said. "I’ve spoken to Conine about this with his son — it’s absurd. Their brains are so flooded that I just want to grab them and say, 'Get it all out of your head right now!'

"Because you’re looking at your shoulder, your elbow, and then you’re saying, 'Oh my God, I’ve got to get launch angle and velocity, and he’s about to throw 99, and oh, I’ve got a little crick in my elbow.' It’s insane to me."

Vladimir Guerrero Sr. may not have known what teams his Expos or Angels were playing on any given day, but his results at the plate made one thing clear: simplicity works.