For
the casual baseball fan, tonight's home run derby may have not sounded
particularly intriguing. Absent are names of the bashers of yesteryear.
With no David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Yoenis Cespedes, or Josh Hamilton
present, one might wonder just who the contestants were. Gone too is the
legendary Chris Berman whose "Back, Back, Back, Back, Gone!" call was
the soundtrack of my childhood summers spent watching the home run derby
and the all-star game. Indeed, if you haven't been following baseball
closely these past few months, you probably wouldn't be interested in
this year's iteration of the home run derby. That being said, avid
baseball fans were likely salivating at the potential for fireworks on a
stormy night in Miami. Like the regular season to date, this year's
home run derby was baseball's showcase for its brightest and youngest
stars (lets put an emphasis on youngest, too, as half of the contestants
were twenty five years of age or younger).
The
night started auspiciously enough with Kansas City Royal's third
baseman and fan favorite, Mike Moustakas, going toe-to-toe with the
Minnesota Twins' DH, Miguel Sano. Miguel Sano began the festivities by
blasting eleven home runs into the outfield stands. Sano's swing reminds
me a lot of a 2004-2005 era Manny Ramirez. The high finish, the short
dreadlocks, and the raw power bring me back to my high school years
watching Manny Being Manny for the Boston Red Sox. Mike Moustakas gave
Sano a run for his money, but ultimately fell shot by a score of 11-10.
"Moose" has always been a favorite of mine since his major league debut
in 2011. While the stocky lefty pull-hitter looks more the part of a
beer-league softball bomber than a major league all-star, Moustakas will
most likely go on to set the Royal's all-time single season home run
record (held by the gloriously named Steve Balboni with 36) this year
barring any unforeseen injuries (Moose is already sitting at 25 home
runs at the season's mid-way point).
Round
two really got the crowd going as defending champion and hometown
favorite, Giancarlo Stanton, and the "other" New York Yankees
power-prodigy, Gary Sanchez, launched a combined 33 home runs into the
stands (and against the back wall) of Marlin's Park. Gary Sanchez had to
be thinking, "Hey, Logan Morrison. What was that you were saying about
me not belonging here?" Each home run served to punctuate that he did
indeed belong in baseball's showcase of its best power hitters. The
Yankees backstop set the bar high for his opponent by knocking seventeen
balls out of the ballpark (six of which traveled over 450 feet) and it
would ultimately be too much for the first seed, Giancarlo Stanton to
overcome. To his credit, Giancarlo Stanton put on a show for the
hometown crowd as he put sixteen balls into orbit of which eight went
480 (480!) feet. With twelve of the sixteen home runs leaving the bat at
speeds in excess of 115 miles per hour, its easy to see that regardless
of the derby's outcome, Stanton is arguably the league's most powerful
slugger.
Round
three was one of my favorites as it pitted the derby's true underdog in
Colorado Rockies' center fielder, Charlie Blackmon, vs. Dodgers phenom,
Cody Bellinger. Being a leadoff hitter, Charlie Blackmon may strike
some as a bit of a non-traditional pick for a home run derby. The lefty
lead-off hitter doesn't possess the most powerful bat in the majors, but
his short, quick swings played well at Marlin's Park and Blackmon put
fourteen balls out fairly quietly (none of Blackmon's home runs traveled
more than 440 feet). Unfortunately for Blackmon, he was paired up with
one of baseball's best stories in Cody Bellinger who responded with
fifteen homers of his own. In one of the derby's most endearing stories,
Bellinger was pitched to by his father, Clay Bellinger, a former major
league pitcher turned fire fighter. It was a detail that harkened back
to José Canó pitching to Robinson Canó in the 2011 derby. There is
something special about a father pitching to his son and I'm sure that
it will be a moment that the Bellinger family will carry with them for
the rest of their lives.
The
fourth and final match-up of round one featured the second pairing of a
Marlin and Yankee and was undoubtedly the highlight of the night.
Marlin's slugger, Justin Bour, embodies everything that the derby is
supposed to be. Being a die-hard Washington Nationals fan, I have to
admit that I was hoping that Bour would lose going into the event. Then
again, after Giancarlo Stanton shoved a glazed donut into Bour's mouth
during his timeout, I couldn't help but smile at the playful antics of
the solidly built first baseman. He has a fire in him that is awesome to
see in the business-like world of professional baseball that can be
criticized for its lack of genuine personalities. Bour is an entertainer
and an incredible talent; given the stage of MLB's home run derby, he
did just what he needed to do: put on a show for the fans.
Yankee's
Rookie of the Year (and MVP) candidate Aaron Judge had a tall-task
ahead of him as he would need to hit at least twenty three home runs in
order to move on. Coming out to a chorus of boos from the Miami crowd,
the Judge quickly dictated that court was most definitely in session.
Simply put, Aaron Judge holds a tight grip on the title of the most
powerful hitter in the MLB. Selecting a single moment as being the
highlight of the round is difficult given the barrage of blasts launched
into the stands by the young slugger. While his 117 mph, 501 foot
launch is arguably the round's greatest moment, perhaps most impressive
was the spray chart of Judge's home runs. In a derby, you'll generally
see batters bail out of their swings, fly open with their hips, and pull
the ball down the line. Up until this point, that was the general key
to success for the contestants. And then this happened...
That, my friends, is the work of a champion.
Round
one of the semi-finals pitted Gary Sanchez vs. Miguel Sano. Going first
overall in the contest is clearly an advantage that should be given to
the #1 seed as that long layoff is a wonderful break for the batter to
recover. As noted by the announcers, the home run derby shouldn't be
mistaken for simply being a round of batting practice in which the
batters are trying to hit home runs. It's a test of endurance that
pushes the athletes to their limits both physically and mentally. Gary
Sanchez looked clearly fatigued in the round as his swing had slowed
considerably since his explosive first round. Still, ten home runs in
the second round of the derby is nothing to sneeze at and ensured that
Miguel Sano would have to be focused in order to win. Sano ran away with
the round, however, blasting 11 home runs with over forty-five seconds
left in regulation (his longest home run of the round was a staggering
491 feet).
As
mentioned earlier in the post, tonight's home run derby was a chance
for the MLB to showcase its youngest stars and Cody Bellinger is
certainly one of those players. The slightly built first baseman for the
Los Angeles Dodgers exemplifies this new era of baseball players.
Loose, easy-going, and always smiling. Listening to the announcers, it
makes you realize that the Dodgers are set up to have a heck of a run as
one of baseball's premier franchises moving forward with Cody
Bellinger, Corey Seager, and Joc Pederson in tow to go along with
Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen. Though he was red-faced and clearly
exhausted at the round's end, Bellinger did launch twelve bombs into the
stands of Marlin's Park.
That brought up the derby's main attraction, Aaron Judge, for his second
showing. And boy, did he rise to the occasion. Less than four minutes
after he stepped to the plate, Judge was headed to the finals on the
back of thirteen homers of which three went over five hundred feet (two
of which were back-to-back blasts).
In
any other year, the finals would've offered some intrigue as Miguel
Sano led off with ten homers to set the bar for his opponent. However,
given how Judge had just trounced his competition, the end result was
never in doubt. The Judge started out his round with three straight
blasts on his first three swings. Barely two minutes into the round,
Judge claimed the title by hitting his final home run 458 feet to
dead-center field. Simply put, it was an amazing performance.
All hail the Judge!
All images are courtesy of mlb.com, latimes.com, and sbnation.com.
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