Vladimir Guerrero at 50

Vladimir Guerrero in 1996 with Harrisburg (David Schofield photo)

Hard to believe 28 season already have passed since Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero roams right field on Harrisburg's historic City Island and brings angst to pitchers everywhere in the Eastern League.

Even harder to believe that Guerrero celebrates his 50th birthday today and enters his 14th season out of the major leagues, where from the end of the 1996 season through 2011 he hits .318 with 449 home runs and 1,496 runs batted in – all numbers to go along with his nine All-Star appearances, eight Silver Slugger awards and the American League MVP award he earns in 2004.

Other than that, he is just another ballplayer.

Back in 1996, Guerrero becomes the best player to call City Island home since the great Oscar Charleston is hitting homers into the trees beyond the right-field wall during the 1920s.

Coincidentally, exactly one year to the day Guerrero is born in 1975, Charleston is selected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues.