Danny Ainge can consider himself among the first victims of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s power hitting.
The Toronto Blue Jays third baseman hit the first home runs of his Major League Baseball career Tuesday, becoming the youngest player in team history to touch ’em all.
Ainge, the Boston Celtics president of basketball operations, had held the Blue Jays’ record since 1979 before Guerrero Jr. set a new mark with 18 days to spare.
Guerrero, one of baseball’s most exciting prospects in a generation, is expected to hit hundreds of more home runs during his MLB career.
The Blue Jays selected Ainge in the 15th round of the 1977 MLB Draft, and he made his big-league debut two years later. He hit .237 as a rookie with two home runs in 308 at-bats. He failed to hit a home run in 1980, followed by another homer-less campaign in 1981 in which he hit .187 over 86 games.
Ainge abandoned his baseball career in 1981 and entered that year’s NBA Draft, where the Celtics selected him in the second round. He went on to play 15 NBA seasons before becoming a head coach, television analyst and an NBA executive.
