Vladimir Guerrero Is First Player To Enter Baseball Hall Of Fame As Angel

COOPERSTOWN, New York  (CBSLA)  --  The Angels have had their share of superstars and many of them had Hall of Fame-worthy careers, Nolan Ryan immediately comes to mind.

But for the first time in the storied organization's 58-year history, Vladimir Guerrero entered the hall Sunday becoming the first player to wear an Angels cap on his head.

In his acceptance speech, Guerrero saluted fellow inductees Trevor Hoffman, Alan Trammel, Jim Thome, Jack Morris and Chipper Jones.

Guerrero also thanked his fans from his native Dominican Republican, the fans in Montreal (where he played half of his 16-year career) and people who helped him along the way. Guerrero specifically singled out Angels manager Mike Scioscia. He thanked God, family, friends and former teammates (like pitcher Pedro Martinez) and the people who came from the Dominican Republican to watch the ceremony live.

With his induction Sunday, Guerreo also becomes the first Dominican-born position player to enter the Hall. Pitcher Juan Marichal got the honor in 1983.

While many players have been known to speak for a half hour, or more, Guerrero (even while being translated) kept his remarks to a remarkably-short four minutes.

Guerrero played for the Montreal Expos, Angels, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles.

In his 2,147 games he hit 447 doubles, 46 triples and 449 home runs while knocking in 1,496 runs.  He played on nine All-Star teams, won eight Silver Sluggers and had seven seasons where he was among the league's top ten hitters.

For a complete look at Guerrero's career, click here for his stats at Baseball Reference.com