Former Dodger Pedro Guerrero has an unexpected new job -- manager

By Steve Dilbeck

May 10, 2013 12 AM PT

Guess they were right: There’s just no telling.

This news would rate just above “Kobe Bryant Gets Fat,” if still trailing “Lindsay Lohan Elected U.S. Senator” in the you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me department:

Pedro Guerrero, manager.

Now I might have considered a lot of career possibilities for the former Dodgers slugger, but it’s safe to say that manager would not have cracked the list.

Guerrero was one of the most talented players to ever call Dodger Stadium home. In June 1985, he had the greatest offensive month (15 homers) I’ve ever seen.

But Guerrero was, eh, different. He loved to party. I mean, he really loved to party. He was frequently testing Manager Tom Lasorda’s patience, not that he couldn’t help but love the guy.

Guerrero liked to do things his way, and if that meant coming to the ballpark a couple of hours late, he didn’t seem to see the big deal. He could hit better hung over than most players could dream about. He once threw a bat at David Cone after being hit by a pitch.

When his career ended, for a while it seemed that only bad news followed. He dropped out of sight for a time. I heard a rumor he was driving a cab. Then came that arrest for dealing cocaine, when his attorney successfully argued that he was too stupid to understand the coke deal.

At some point Guerrero said he sobered up and began trying to get back into baseball.

And now here he is, introduced Wednesday as manager of the Vallejo Admirals in the independent Pacific Association.

Who says life isn’t funny? Guerrero the party king, the man his attorney said had an IQ of 70, will now be the leader of a baseball team.

Hey, all the best to him. You certainly hope he has turned his life around. His former teammate Mike Marshall apparently believes it. Guerrero was one of the names Marshall, a former manager in the league and now its commissioner, recommended for the job.

Thanks to Jon Weisman for alerting us to the story in the Vallejo Times-Herald. The Admirals season opens May 31.