Say Hey, Vladdy: Retire

Guerrero: Now, sadly mortal...

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The most painful part of tonight's 4-3*, 13-inning loss your Angels suffered at the steroid-enhanced hands of the New York Yankees? Not the errors. Not Brian Fuentes blowing his save opportunity. Not the prospect of the Halos having to come back from a 2-0 deficit if they want to hold up their part of the Freeway Series. No, the moments that made me wince the most were those involving Vladimir Guerrero.

Oh, Vladdy: you're done. Your flailing at various Yankees pitchers during this series--including your feeble ground out to end the top of the 13th inning, with two runners in scoring position, is how I imagine Willie Mays played for the New York Mets at the end of his career, a run as synonymous with an athletic titan woefully past his prime as Joe Louis versus Rocky Marciano. You've never really hit them when they counted in the postseason, and your 2009 campaign might have seen you fight injuries, but cold streaks don't explain three inning-ending outs in a must-win game.

Forget about scoring a lucrative extension; call it a career. You had a great one, of the first-ballot Hall of Fame variety. Anyone who can tie a Lou Gehrig record in this age deserves all the praise in the world, but you had your day. Retire after this season--please. Porfas.