Vladimir Guerrero to enter Hall of Fame as an Angel, not an Expo

Former Montreal Expos star Vladimir Guerrero will wear an Angels cap on his Hall of Fame plaque.

Guerrero, who was voted into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday night along with third baseman Chipper Jones, infielder Jim Thome and reliever Trevor Hoffman, announced his decision Thursday at a news conference with the rest of the 2018 class.

Guerrero spent six seasons in Los Angeles, playing for the then Anaheim Angels, after eight years in Montreal. He'll be the first player inducted with an Angels logo on his Hall plaque.

Guerrero won an American League MVP award in 2004 — his first season with the Angels — when he batted .337 with 39 home runs and 126 runs batted in, plus league-leading totals in runs (124) and total bases (366).

He made his MLB debut with Montreal in 1996.

The 42-year-old also played for the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles over his 16 big-league seasons. He had a career .318 batting average and .553 slugging percentage with 449 home runs and 1,496 RBIs.

Guerrero was an eight-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award as the best offensive player at his position and appeared in nine all-star games. He had 13 seasons with a .300 or better batting average and four 200-plus hit seasons.

He also drove in 100 or more runs 10 times and scored 100 or more runs six times.

Guerrero 'thankful to Montreal'

Guerrero said on a conference call Wednesday night that he was "quite thankful to Montreal, to the Expos."

"That's a team that after some teams overlooked me in the Dominican Republic, gave me the opportunity to break into professional baseball," he said. "Always thankful for how I was treated in Canada."

Guerrero is the third Dominican to be named to Cooperstown, behind pitchers Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez.

There have been three players inducted into the Hall of Fame with Expos caps on their plaques — Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and Tim Raines.