Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s debut sparks MLB memories: 'I look up ... and there's a third deck!'

From all the evidence we have to date, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a one-of-a-kind baseball player. And when he takes the field for the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, he’ll experience something special: His first game in the big leagues. 

USA TODAY Sports spoke with several players about memories of being promoted to the majors and playing in their first game.

1B Yonder Alonso (Cincinnati Reds, Sept. 1, 2010)

Alonso was taken seventh overall in the 2008 draft, and his potent bat helped him work his way quickly through the Reds' farm system. As the 2010 season was winding down, he was inexplicably taken out in the middle of the game against Class AAA Toledo, but no one told him why.

“I remember my parents texting me and saying, ‘Hey, is everything OK? Did you get hurt? What’s going on?’"

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He got word after the game the Reds wanted him as a September call-up. So he drove from Toledo to Cincinnati that day while his parents caught the next flight.

“They were ecstatic. My dad and my mom, they started crying,” he said. “It was a special moment, and I think it was even more special when I got to see them the next day with a big-league uniform on and the anthem and all that stuff. It was very emotional.”

He made his debut that day as a pinch-hitter.

“I remember I swung super hard my first two swings, and after that I ended up grounding out to the pitcher. I remember coming back to the dugout and (Reds outfielder) Jay Bruce was the first guy to congratulate me. I was like, ‘Why are you congratulating me, man? I just hit a ground ball to the pitcher.'

“He was like, ‘I’m congratulating you because it’s your first big-league at-bat, and no matter what, nobody can ever take that away from you.’”

RHP Dylan Bundy (Baltimore Orioles, Sept. 23, 2012)

Bundy was drafted fourth overall in 2011, and after reaching the Class AA level in his first season in the minors, he was even younger than Guerrero at 19 when he got the call.

“I was in Sarasota, Florida, in the instructional league,” he recalled. “I found out I got called up about 4 a.m. by (farm director) Brian Graham. He told me I had a flight ready at 6:30. I was going from Sarasota all the way to Seattle.

“I got to the airport after I tried calling everybody -- and of course they don’t answer at 4 a.m. I was kind of mad they didn’t answer. I’m like, ‘I’m getting called up. Answer the phone!’”

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LHP Carlos Rodon (Chicago White Sox, April 21, 2015)

Rodon was selected third overall in the 2014 draft after a storied college career at N.C. State. Pitching for the White Sox’s Class AAA team in Charlotte the following year, he was watching TV at his girlfriend’s apartment with one of his former Wolfpack teammates when an unfamiliar number appeared on his phone.

“It’s Buddy Bell, who was our farm director. He says, ‘Hey ‘Los. We’re calling you up. We need you to get on a flight tonight to get there tomorrow.’”

His friends didn’t believe him at first, but then quickly helped him pack and got him to the airport on time.

When he made his debut in Chicago, “I just remember running out from the bullpen and getting to the mound, and I look up  … and there’s a third deck!”

OF Trey Mancini (Baltimore Orioles, Sept. 20, 2016)

In 2016, the Orioles were in the thick of a playoff race when an injury opened up a spot on the active roster for Mancini, who had just completed his second consecutive 20-homer season in the minors.

“I was in Sarasota at our spring training facility,” he said. “I had no idea, but then when I got the call it was total joy. I was 24, so it was 20 years of hard work wrapped into one moment there.”

A Florida native, Mancini was able to share the “almost perfect” moment with his parents, who were with him. 

He started that night in Baltimore against the Red Sox.

“I hit a home run in my second at-bat. It was really cool,” he said. “On a personal level, I don’t know if anything will ever top that. It was probably the best day ever for me.”

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