After a historic run in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, he joined the Mariners in 2001 and immediately made history, winning both the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in his debut season. He quickly became one of the league's most consistent and dynamic players, earning 10 consecutive All-Star selections and 10 Gold Gloves. In 2004, he set a Major League record with 262 hits in a single season - a record that still stands.
On Tuesday night in Game 3 of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a key hit in the third inning when he launched a huge home run off of Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to put Toronto ahead 2-1. It would turn out to be a lead that they would not relinquish as they eventually beat Los Angeles 6-2 to even up the series.
Yesterday, star catcher and AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh enjoyed a multi-homer game where he crushed his 48th and 49th homers of the season. That pair of dingers saw him tie and then claim sole possession of the record for most home runs hit by a catcher in a single season, eclipsing the efforts of Salvador Perez back in 2021. With that record now claimed, the wait begins for Raleigh to establish himself as the first 50-homer catcher in MLB history.
"Don left an indelible mark on the Dodger franchise during his 16 seasons in Los Angeles and many of his records continue to stand to this day," Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said at the time.
