Brett Anderson becomes first pitcher to face both Vladimir Guerrero and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Brett Anderson is 31, so he’s not that old.
But he made his major league debut in 2009 at age 21, pitching for four different teams, so he has faced his fair amount of batters.
On Saturday when he started against the Toronto Blue Jays for the Oakland Athletics, Anderson had the distinct honor of being the first pitcher to face both Vladimir Guerrero and his son, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who made his much-anticipated big league debut on Friday.
The elder Guerrero retired from the league in 2011 and Vlad Jr. is beginning his career eight years later, so it’s not like there is a huge gap in between the two.
Nevertheless, Anderson still was not incredibly excited at the fact that he has now pitched to them both.
Brett Anderson, asked about being the first pitcher to face Vlad Sr. and Jr. "I got up when I was fairly you and you just made me feel old."
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) April 27, 2019
Anderson can feel good about this though: He struck out Guerrero Jr. in the first inning, and he retired Vlad Sr. in four of five at-bats. Considering the amount of hits by the elder Guerrero and what is likely to be a lengthy career for the younger Vlad, that should be a win for Anderson.
More father-son history
Multiple current pitchers have also had the honor of facing both Fernando Tatis and Fernando Tatis Jr., who is also a hotshot rookie on the San Diego Padres.
Adam Wainwright, Andrew Miller, Zach Duke and Max Scherzer are on that list, with Scherzer adding his name on Friday.
Fernando Tatis Jr. strikes out vs. Max Scherzer. 10 years ago, his father struck out in his first of three career at-bats vs. Scherzer.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) April 26, 2019
The elder Tatis retired in 2010, so there is also a relatively short gap here as well.
The argument can be made that Anderson should not feel ashamed of facing both a father and his son over the course of a big league career, because that means he hung around long enough to do so.
Anderson has always been a serviceable starter, and last season he played a key role in the rotation of an A’s team that unexpectedly made its way into the playoffs.
Plus, he’ll have a pretty good story to tell to his grandchildren one day.
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